Don't forget: Memories of a long lost past
by Goddess of Twilight
Summary: A young Japanese girl finds herself in Dakota, and looks to the heroes there for help in controlling something they find to be beyond any of them. RichiexOC
1. Dakota

Here it is, my next Static Shock fanfiction. This has nothing to do with the Shaman story, it's sequel will hopefully be in progress soon.

As it stands... I don't own Static or Gear... or their hottie counterparts though the superheroes are ten times hotter! But I will return them when I am done with them... and they're properly whomped and thusly healed...

ON WITH THE SHOW!

* * *

I stood at the corner as the people fawned over him. I moved from my leaning post and began to walk away. It would be best if I just got out of there. For all of us. 

"Hey, are you alright?" I heard him ask.

"I'm fine, go back to your fan club Static." I said, not even looking at him.

"Whoa, I know this was about you, somehow. Just what did those guys want?" He asked.

"They're thugs. What do you think they wanted, an autograph?" I said, being snappier than I probably should have to my rescuer.

"Hey, don't bite his head off. It just seemed like those 'thugs' as you put it, were after more than money or a good time." Gear said, rolling up. "There's something you're not telling us."

"Maybe you're just a little paranoid." I said, walking away.

"Backpack scanned those thugs, and he scanned you. There was a lot of electricity being discharged." Gear said.

I stopped dead. "Blame your friend Static for that." I said without turning.

"It wasn't coming from me." Static said quietly from above me.

"He's right. This was different, has a different signature. Like it was coming from someone who wasn't a bang baby." Gear said.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." I growled. "Maybe you should check your computer. Sparky here probably doesn't help the electronics too much."

I heard them both shout in dismay as I took off running. I ran as hard as I could, finding little to hide in or behind. I tripped and fell to the ground.

I had precious seconds before they would catch sight of me, so I rolled underneath the van parked on the street.

Soon feet appeared, encased in rollerblades that had been toyed with by Gear no doubt. They looked pretty sleek, if he could design some like that and sell them, I was sure he'd earn a pretty penny. I tried to quiet my pounding heart as he closed in.

"You know, she's probably right V. Maybe I should shield Backpack better. That's probably why." Gear said.

'V? Who's he talking to now?' I thought

"Maybe, I think there's more to this than meets the eye." Static answered. Why did Gear call him V?

"Did you see her jacket?" Gear asked.

"Yeah, she's from Metropolis. Wonder what she's doing so far from home." Static said.

I'd have cursed. Chichi-san would be laughing at me, telling me he told me so. Then again, he had been lucky. He hadn't been born with my burden.

My father was like that though. Gii-san had passed the family burden onto me. He left his son, my Chichi-san out of it.

Lucky. Gii-san had burned himself out years before my birth. Baa-san hadn't, and told stories of the family of my father. They had a history of burning themselves out early in their lives. Early for us anyway, we lived a long time.

I was the odd one. My mother was the fire clan, and my father was half water and half air, not an unusual coupling, but they had produced me. Fire hardly ever coupled with anyone that had a drop of water in them. The clans were enemies.

By the time I had finished grumbling about my family in general, the two heroes had gone. I rolled out from under the car, thanking the ancestors for a moment. A blessing it was to be able to repel the filth around me. I then walked the rest of the way home.

"Konnban'wa ChiChi. Genki desuka?" I asked, removing my shoes in the doorway. (good evening dad, how are you?)

"Genki desu. Konnban'wa neko-chan." My father said appearing at the door. (I am fine, good evening Cat)

"Kono machi wa kemeyou na hito no chichi no kansen dearu." I replied. (this town is full of strange people father)

"Soshite kunren suru to watashi tachi ga ichi tsuga mitsukeru made kanzen ga kakureru tame ni aru. Tabun anata no chichi no anata no haha no chi to sore wa Baa-san no youna nagai seimei ni chansu wo ataeru kamoshire naika." He replied with a smile. (and is perfect to hide in, until we find one to train you. Maybe, with your mother's blood within you, it may allow you the chance at a longer life, like Grandmother)

"Watashi wa chichi wo sou nozomu me to Gii-san wa odayaka de aru. Hi, kuuki oyobi mizu to watashi ni san kara niga aru. Haha wa watashi no umare no nochi de moe ta." I said. (I hope so dad, Grandma was of the water tribe. They are tranquil. With fire, air, and water, I've two out of the three. Mom burned out after my birth.)

"She was fire. They have tempers. I loved hers. I either fanned the flames or quenched them. Her burn out was not natural however. Someone forced it. Our Gii-san's family however, it is genetic. A curse if you will." Chichi-san said.

"Maybe I will break it." I said. It was a common ritual between us, to keep hope.

"Yes, now to bed with you Reiko-chan." Chi chi-san said, kissing my forehead.

I was up doing a kata when the doorbell rang. I sighed, waiting for my father to answer the door. It kept ringing, rolling my eyes I stopped and answered it. I was surprised to see a woman at the door, and three men behind her. The blonde boy stood in the back ribbing his companion about something. Both seemed my age. I stood there for a moment.

"Chichi-san! Koko ni kite kudasai!" I shouted, turning. (Dad can you come here please)

"I'm sorry, do you understand English?" The only adult asked.

"I do, my father does not." I said.

"Reiko? Genki desuka?" He called. (Reiko? How are you?)

"Watashi tachi ni gesuto no chichi-san ga iru" I replied. (We have guests father)

"Soko ni dare ga imasuka?" He called back, getting closer. (essentially: Who are they?)

"Please come in, removed your shoes. This may take a while." I said. "who might you be?"

"I'm Mr. Hawkins, this is Virgil my son, and Sharon my daughter. And this is Richie, Virgil's friend." Mr. Hawkins said.

"Dare?" Chichi-san asked. (who?)

"Why do we have to take our shoes off?" Sharon asked.

"It's a Japanese home, just do as she says." Richie said.

"Hawkins-san, to Virgil kun, to Richie kun, to Sharon chan." I said. ( Their names with suffixes at the end, denoting respect shown to the father, reference to boys, and girls)

"Ohaio gozaimashta" Chichi-san said. (Good morning)

"Father says good morning. This way. Chichi-san would like to know the occasion for this visit." I said, continuing to translate.

"Chichi-san?" Virgil asked.

"It's like saying dad instead of father." I replied.

"We're here to welcome you to our neighborhood. You're about Virgil's age aren't you?" Mr. Hawkins said.

"Yes." I said, translating for my father.

"Arigatou." My father said. (thanks)

"Father gives his thanks."

"Tell me Reiko, were you born in Japan?" Mr. Hawkins asked.

"No. I don't think so. I can't remember. My father doesn't talk about it because of my mother. I think I was born out of this country, the last I remember Baa-san telling. I am American, but Japanese as well. I was born on our way to Metropolis. Father is most definitely not American. We moved to Japan again when I was three. Mother worked at a big company that sent us places. We've recently moved from Metropolis." I said.

"Where is your mother from?" Sharon asked.

"Mother was also from Japan. She died on the job. One of the many reasons we moved to Dakota." I said.

"Oh, sorry." Sharon said.

"I think it's time to go. If you ever need a hand, we live one house down from you. Just give us a ring. Let's go kids." He said.

They turned to go. I saw Virgil giving me a curious look, and Richie was looking at me with a penetrating gaze. They too turned to go. I reached out with a tendril of electricity, testing them both. I got a response from Virgil. He was not some normal teenager.

Virgil turned around and looked at me. I held a stoic expression on my face, telling him nothing. He turned and left with his family and friend. I rolled my eyes after shutting the door. I leaned against it, sighing. It was going to be an interesting day at school when it started up again.

"Reiko-san, those boys recognized you. Are they who you were talking about?" father asked.

"I am sure one of them is. His friend probably is the other, but I cannot be so sure without checking. I need to go father, I feel…" I said

"Go then, blow off steam, but be careful wear your charms." He said.

"I know father" I said, kissing his cheek.

As a way to prevent a burn out like my mother had, we had fashioned charms that would kick in and keep the majority of the energy from being expelled in a way that would kill me or other people. It would do it's best to head off a burn out.

I put the charms on in an order designated by where they went and how they were designed. I had bracelets for my right ankle, then a small belt of wires intricately woven, bracelets on my wrist, an arm band on my left arm, and thumb and index finger rings for both hands. I also had a necklace, earrings and a small head piece that was woven similar to my belt.

It would seem like overkill, but I had almost burned out once, and they saved my life. Besides, it gave me a sort of style that was my own. People tended to steer around me more often dressed as I was, but I did not care. I hardly stayed in a place long enough to make valued friendships, except Metropolis. I had no worries about airports since we had our own plane to go places.

I walked alone, careful to keep away from any thugs so I didn't have a repeat of the night before. I felt the storm brewing. It was likely to rain and storm hard today. I didn't mind. Rain was soothing to me. Although in a city like this, it would be polluted as well. I sighed. I wished that perhaps we would find a cleaner place. Dakota was cleaner than Metropolis, that was for sure.

"You know Richie; it's rude to follow a person like that." I said, without turning around.

"How'd you know it was me? Let alone that I was there?" He asked.

"The Mountain technique." I said.

"What?" He asked.

"As a martial artist, we are told not to focus on what is close, we are to focus on the mountain in the distance, and are able to fight with more accuracy and speed. If you focus further away, you will see movements around you better than if you did not." I said.

"I see. Why didn't you use it last night then?" He asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said.

"I think you do. "Richie said, coming in front of me. "Don't play dumb. You tested V at your house, because you had a hunch about him."

"Your nuts" I said, walking around him. He grabbed my arm.

"Reiko, there's no hiding who V and I are. You know it as well as we do." He said, getting close to my face.

My breath hitched. His eyes were full of emotion, and behind it was a courage I didn't see in many his age. I wasn't used to someone being this close to me, and it was a strange feeling.

"I'm not like you, or him. I have my own problems." I said, yanking my arm away.

I ran. I hated this. We were here barely three days and they knew who I was, what I wasn't. I felt tears spilling down my cheeks as I dashed away from Richie.

"Reiko! Reiko wait!" He shouted after me.

Rain started to pour down and everyone started to find drier places to be. Except me, I was down on the docks. The rain mingled with my tears, hiding my weakness. I was making lightning.

* * *

Ta daaaaa... and that's the first chapter. It was a little difficult writing in the translations for the Japanese. I had written them a while ago while still in class, and now that I've had a full two semesters of German with the final semester of Japanese... well... yeah.. I'm a bit rusty. 

I put the Japanese in there to show that Reiko's father (who is only known as Mr. Kinomoto) knows no English. Future exchanges between the two will mostly be in English, with the occaisional common phrase. Mostly Genki Desuka, or Konnichi'wa.

I'm sorry if it was confusing to you, I didn't mean for it to be. And beleive me. I'm not writing that much Japanese again without finding a program on here that will show it in hiragana. I hate writing Japanese in romanji (which is the alphabet we read in here.)


	2. Not like you

Ok, here's the next chapter!

reminder: I don't own a damn thing.

* * *

Richie's POV 

I had been surprised to find the Japanese girl opening the door. I had been teasing Virgil about the problems he was having with Daisy, when I heard the door open. I heard a rush of Japanese, and looked up at her. I was mesmerized by the grace and fluidness of her language.

She had long black hair, and was dressed in a martial arts outfit. Her eyes were strange. I had never seen a Japanese person with eyes like hers. They had many colors, but appeared brown. She seemed guarded.

Now I watched her run away from me. Her long hair like a silk flag. In my hand was parts of jewelry she had been wearing. A bracelet, a ring, and fragments of something else on the ground. I picked them up, and felt a small shock. I had a bad feeling about all this.

"Reiko! Reiko wait!" I shouted

She didn't even slow down. I swore. This could be very bad. If she wore all this jewelry a reason, I didn't know what to do. Part of me wanted to analyze the strange metal the jewelry was made of, something about it held power. But the other half of me felt it wise to alert her father.

Swearing again, I turned and ran. I changed in an alley. I hadn't forgotten that Reiko's father spoke only Japanese. Backpack should be able to help translate what he was saying to me, as well as at least attempt to translate what I said for him.

I pounded on the door, hoping he would answer. The door finally swung open. He looked apologetic at first, the puzzled. I thrust Reiko's jewelry into his hand. He looked at it for a moment, then a look of horror crossed his face, the color drained.

"Reiko!" He whispered.

"I can find her. If that is what I think it is. If we let Backpack track for the rest of the charms." I told him, allowing time for Backpack to translate.

"Please do. They save her from a burn out, from death." He replied, grim.

He handed me one of the two rings I had handed him. Backpack analyzed it, and stored all the other information I wanted to look at later. It started computing and began to give me the information.

"V, you there?" I called into my shock box.

"Yea, what's up?" He asked.

"We need to search for Reiko. Her father says she could be in danger." I said.

"I told you not to go after her man." Virgil said, scolding me.

"I know man. I couldn't help myself, we knew something was different about her, and I wanted to see if she'd tell me." I said.

"You know better than that. If someone asked us what was so different about us, I doubt we tell em." Virgil said. I said goodbye to Reiko's father and skated away.

"I know V. If I hadn't pushed her to tell me, she wouldn't have run off like this." I said.

"We'll find her. Don't worry." Virgil said.

"I'm already on it. Backpack has picked up the atmospheric ionization discharge on the docks." I said.

"Meaning?"

"A lot of lightning. More so than this storm has been producing, and of an almost different kind." I said.

"I'll be there to back you up in a bit." He said.

I found her at the docks. It was where the big bang had happened. I saw a few of the more menacing bang babies gathered in a circle. If Reiko didn't use her powers, she would be done for, I was sure of that.

That's when she went ninja on them all. Too bad they were the kind of people who didn't like to fight fair. That's when I saw him. He sauntered up, his hands behind his back, like most experienced and drama seeking super villains. This one I knew from my friends at the Teen Titans. Slade.

The bang babies parted, allowing him to walk straight up to Reiko unchallenged. It left her open to escape as well. She tried to, but Slade grabbed her by the wrist. It was like watching a kitten struggle in the grasp of a cruel school boy. She attacked him, kicking and hitting as best she could, but didn't seem to be making headway.

Static joined the fight about that time, but he wasn't alone. The Titans were there as well. I saw Robin dart in and portray similar moves to those I had just witnessed Reiko make. It was amazing to see the Titans here in Dakota. I shrugged and decided to join the chaos.

Reiko let Slade have it with a graceful, and with what seemed like inhuman flexibility, roundhouse kick. Robin stood there, agape. It was amazing to watch her fight, where Robin's attacks were well timed and precise, hers were also graceful and fluid. And she seemed to have one upped Robin with flexibility.

Slade might have been hard pressed with us all attacking him at once. If he'd had two broken arms anyway.

Suddenly I heard Reiko shout something and she lit Slade up. Literally. After the blinding light died down, she stood only for a moment, then collapsed. Slade had disappeared.

"Reiko!" I shouted.

I dove next to her. Her body crackled with electricity, and zapped me when I tried to touch her. I threw a zap cap at one of the bang babies that was approaching us. The Teen Titans were not so surprised at the disappearance of Slade, and helped round up the bang babies.

"Static! Get over here!" I cried out.

"What's wrong with her Gear?" Virgil asked.

"I don't know. I can't touch her, and she's got an electrical field around her that's going to fry anything that is electronic. Backpack can't scan through that. She might be in a burn out or whatever it is. Do you think you can help her?" I asked.

"I don't know." He said.

He took her hand in his own, and concentrated. Soon the field of electricity surrounded the both of them, humming and crackling viciously. I backed up and decided to help the others round up the thugs. It seemed to take forever, but soon enough we were handing them over, and walking up to Static and Reiko.

"How is she Static?" Robin asked.

"She's alive, barely. It was so strange. I was able to bring her from the brink…" He said absently.

"You closed the gap. The one that the charms she usually wears close." I said.

"We should take her to the tower. We have equipment there that most hospitals don't." Robin said.

"No, her father wouldn't want that. And you'd be hard pressed to argue with him, since he only speaks Japanese." I said.

"Well, be careful then. Slade probably isn't finished with her. And he does whatever he can to get his way. He doesn't care if people get hurt." Raven said.

With that, we took Reiko to the hospital. I was the only one that could really talk to her father, so I was sent to bring him to the hospital. About the time we arrived there, she was waking up. Robin was there, keeping watch. She looked so tired, and there was pain behind her eyes.

"Reiko, are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm better than I should be after what happened. I'm glad Static was there to do whatever he did. Otherwise…" She said.

"We're always here to help." I said, not wanting her to finish that thought.

"I had no idea you were so important Miss Kinomoto." A nurse said walking in. "You'll be able to leave shortly. You've checked out alright, if not a bit under the weather. Take it easy for the next few days. If your still feeling drained, I would suggest forgoing school for a little while."

"Thank you." She said.

She spoke with her father rapidly in Japanese, as the rest of us watched in silence. I was amazed at the language once more, how poetic it sounded. Soon her father left with an interpreter to sign paper work. I looked over at her and realized that Robin had gone. The only people left were Virgil, Reiko and I.

"You know what I am now." She said, catching my eyes with hers. Her voice was barely audible.

"A mutant would be my best guess, since you said you're not like us." I said, trying to keep the hitch in my voice from showing.

"Mutant, bang baby. If it were that simple." Reiko said with a bitter laugh.

I looked at her calmly, trying to slow my heart. I tried to urge her on with my mind, looking her in the eyes, trying to let her know it was safe to talk to us. She looked almost ready to speak, but did not. A nurse came bustling in to remove her IV and give her some last minute instructions and medication.

"You boys can leave now." She said. "I'm sure you two have parents that are worried sick about you."

"Yes ma'am. Thank you for your help." I said.

"No problem. Without the two of you, we'd probably have much worse injuries to treat these days." She said.

We left, hoping to get the chance to talk to Reiko. School looked like it was the only option a week away, with vacation starting the next day. And that would be a long wait for the curious.

* * *

I'm sorry if this chapter was a little confusing. I couldn't think of a better way to word some things, and I was REALLY tired when I wrote it last summer, and when I tried to edit it, it only got worse. 


	3. Why School is Dangerous

Here's the next chapter, it's a bit long, but I don't think you'll mind

I still don't own em...

* * *

Reiko's POV

"Class, I'd like you to welcome Reiko Kinomoto. She is new here, just having transferred from Metropolis. She was in the hospital last week, and probably isn't up to defending herself in the hallways. Can I have a volunteer or two to help her out today?" The homeroom teacher said.

"Virgil and I already met her, before she was in the hospital. We could do it if you like." Richie said.

"Be my guest Mr. Foley. Just don't frighten the poor girl." The teacher said.

Richie laughed. We both knew there was little chance of that happening. I rolled my eyes and proceeded to sit where I had been directed. Right beside the blonde actually. He looked so different with glasses on.

"Reiko, I think we should talk. Please, listen to me. I know what you're thinking. But we're willing to listen if only you would talk." Richie whispered.

"Don't pull charity on me Richie. You have no idea the can of worms you'd open by listening to me." I said, the teacher glared at us.

"It's not charity. Look, I'm sorry about last week. I almost got you killed because I was curious about you." He said. He sounded so sincere, and sad.

The teacher had turned around and was busy at the chalk board. I reached over and touched Richie's hand. He looked at me and smiled.

"I thank you for your apology. I was rash." I said.

We sat through the rest of homeroom, and then Virgil and Richie were dismissed from the last part of class to show me around the school. Luckily homeroom was at the end of the school day. I was amazed that they could put so many students into such a school. It seemed so big from the outside, but much smaller inside.

"It's not really all that amazing Reiko." Virgil said.

"You'd be amazed at the Japanese school system. And you'd probably go nuts in Metropolis. There are so many people, and we won't even start with the gangs." I said.

"They're pretty bad here." Virgil said softly.

"Virg lost his mom to the gang riots years ago." Richie said, as Virgil walked ahead of us.

"I understand his loss. But he shouldn't despair her memory, he should honor it with happiness in the life she gave him. He honors it by being Static, but shouldn't be sad about her death any longer." I said.

"You don't understand. We were there. We could have saved her, but she was a doctor." Richie said.

"And doctors put their life on the line many times, by being heroes themselves. They go out and patch up those that would sooner shoot them than thank them. I understand very well. Many of my relatives have given their lives to mafia members by helping people. And because my mother is the daughter of all important doctor, saved many men of rival gang, she die too. Do not tell me I don't understand." I said.

With my frustration and anger being brought forth, my command of English declined. It hadn't been my first language, and I still had some trouble with it. Richie looked surprised. Virgil was nowhere in site, which puzzled the both of us. Richie apologized, his voice soft.

I felt ashamed, being angry at him. He was trying his best to help me understand, and I continually brought him down with harsh and sharp words. I stood there, trying to reign in my emotions before I said anything else scathing towards someone I was hoping would be my friend.

We heard a loud screeching sound, and then a thud. The thudding was getting closer as horns and tires screeched. Richie and I rushed to a window to see a growing car accident, right outside the school.

Whatever had caused the accident was walking towards us. It was huge and ugly. Almost rocklike in appearance. The ground shook hard with its every step. A crack was traveling towards the school at a faster rate than the mobile mountain.

There was a crack in the wall running up towards us. As it traveled up past the window, the glass exploded. Richie grabbed my arm and we dove for cover from the shards. We looked up in time to see the crack run across the ceiling, and spider out.

We stood up, and as the ground shook, much harder this time, pitched to the floor again. We could see Virgil running towards us, looking very worried.

"What is going on? An earthquake?" He asked.

"No!" Richie and I replied.

"This is caused by that thing outside." I said, pointing.

"Onyx!" Virgil shouted.

"Oh no." Richie moaned.

Whatever this guy was, he was huge. I was surprised at his size, and also the destruction he had caused. I didn't want to know what had brought him this far, and only hoped that someone could stop him. I knew I couldn't.

Parts of the wall and ceiling were crumbling down around us. Richie was yelling something and I felt Virgil shove me to the ground. A huge chunk of the ceiling now rested where I had stood only moments before. It was getting very dangerous and I wanted to get out of there.

I covered my head, Richie doing the same. Virgil was standing over us, using his powers to protect us from the brunt of the collapsing hallway. He was having a hard time holding it off, I could tell. It was almost too much. I removed the charms from my right hand and touched his arm. It was the strangest sensation I'd ever felt.

It was as if I were floating. My power surged and combined with his. I was glad to see there were no students out where we were. We wouldn't have been able to protect them all. And Virgil's identity would have been uncovered. I pondered if maybe he would be able to help me.

That was the last thought I had for a while.

* * *

Richie's POV 

"Reiko! Virgil! Look out!" I shouted, but it was too late.

That was the problem with Virgil's powers, and I guess Reiko's as well. Wood was no match for them. No metal of any sort was in it, so they couldn't use their powers to grab it, or to hold it off. Something wooden flew into Reiko's midsection, sending her flying.

She hit one of the rows of lockers, making a sizeable dent in them. She landed on the floor, and didn't move. I stood to run to her, the crack in the ceiling already approaching her still form. I looked at Virgil, he was holding well enough on his own. I grabbed the charms that had fallen from her hands and rushed towards her.

I dove, as something else caught Virgil and threw him into a beam that had become exposed. We couldn't escape the collapse. I saw Virgil get buried underneath a huge pile of rubble, and cursed. I wished that I had Backpack, and that it could have helped us somehow. I used my body to shield Reiko from the collapse.

It was really starting to get uncomfortable in that position. I wasn't sure, but I think I blacked out a few times. I felt rubble shifting here and there, and only hoped that it wasn't about to collapse more stuff on us.

However, there was soon light pouring into the small space we were in. I could breathe easier, and my back wasn't weighted down by the ceiling. I looked at Reiko as the light fell across her face. If it weren't for the cuts and bruises on her face, she would have looked like some sort of angel sleeping. Her black hair was spread around her head like a halo. Of course, my vision was slightly blurred as well.

"Are you alright?" A familiar voice asked me.

"Batman? Oh yeah, I'm ok, but Reiko is unconscious. Did you find Virgil? He got the brunt of the collapse." I replied when I saw him.

"They're digging him out as we speak, Richie. Do you have any broken bones? Are you two safe to move?" He asked.

"Reiko needs to be taken care of first. She's been unconscious since this happened." I replied, feeling along her arms, her neck, to see if anything was broken or out of place.

After I was sure that she could be moved, we maneuvered her out from under me, and onto a stretcher. Then he pulled me out. It was a relief to be out from under what was once the hall's ceiling. And to know that Reiko and Virgil were being taken care of. I stood there, watching Batman carry her away.

My mind was in overdrive, trying to figure out how best to help my two friends. If something were to happen, Reiko could take out half a wing of the hospital, and with Virgil out, Static couldn't protect people. We were really in for it if this was the case.

"Come on Richie. You need to go too. And you need to tell me about the girl." Batman said.

I cringed. The hospital again. They weren't going to be thrilled to see her. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. I still had her charms in my hand. I hadn't been able to put them back on her. I tried to run towards the ambulance, but Batman grabbed my shoulder, practically clothes lining me.

"Do you know what she is?" Batman asked.

"I know that she isn't a bang baby. I need to get these back on her, otherwise there could be serious problems Batman." I said softly.

He just looked at me like maybe I was telling the truth, or that maybe I didn't know it all. Then he let me go, I crawled into the ambulance. The medics took a moment to swarm me and clean some of the cuts on my face before I was able to put the jewelry onto Reiko's hand.

The medics looked at me strangely. I thought quickly to figure something out without letting them know that she wasn't exactly normal like them.

"It's the latest in some of Bruce Wayne's technology. She has a strange condition when it comes to electricity." I started.

"Oh, we heard about this girl. She came in a week or so ago, almost blew up a heart machine. Static was with her, trying to help equalize the electricity. She must have been hit with a few volts to be like this still." One of the medics said.

I just kind of laughed and nodded. Let them make up their own thing. They started talking about some of the reasons Batman would be in town. Most of the Justice League stayed close by this area, but Batman was constantly in Dakota. They laughed about how maybe he was just keeping an eye on the two young heroes that the city boasted. I sat back and closed my eyes, only to get poked.

"None of that young man. Not until we reach the hospital. The doctors would throw a fit if you were to pass out in our care." The other medic said.

He was bent over Reiko, whose eyes were open, if a little glazed over with pain. She looked scared and unsure of what was going on. The medic was cleaning her up as well, trying to make sure that they would be ready for anything, especially an over abundance of electricity.

We got to the hospital soon enough. I didn't see Reiko for a while after that. They took her to get a CAT scan, while they finished cleaning me up and giving me pain killers. I knew I'd be sore for a while, and I'd have to be careful about my back. I actually had to get stitches at one point since part of the ceiling had cut me pretty deep on my lower back. Any more to the left and it might have done some damage to my spine.

Once I was cleared by the doctor, I walked out into the waiting room to see if my parents were there. I wanted to wait for at least some news about Virgil and Reiko. I saw Mr. Hawkins sitting there with his head in his hands. I felt my gut twist. This man was like a father to me, and his son was like a brother to me. It was like a rock was sitting in my stomach, I felt like lead.

Virgil had gotten hurt because I hadn't been smart enough to bring some of my heavy duty gadgets along to save him. I sat next to Mr. Hawkins, feeling like I was going to cry or something. I didn't want to though; I wanted to prove to him I was as strong as his son.

"It's not your fault Richie. You did what you had to." Mr. Hawkins said softly.

"It feels like it. If I had been smarter, I could have saved us all a butt load of pain. Instead this happened. We could have gotten out of there if I had thought faster." I said. "Virgil's a strong guy. He'll pull through. I know it."

I said it more to comfort me, since I was so unsure of everything right now.

"I know Richie, I know. It doesn't stop the worry though. It was one of those bang babies, a gang banger most likely than not. It feels like I'm in the same place I was those years ago with his mother." He said.

I didn't know what else to do. His pain was so much stronger than mine. He'd already lost his wife because of stupid gang wars. One of them probably would take the life of his son in the future, because we would get careless. In the end, instead of helping, we could only hurt Virgil's father more.

I patted his shoulder, it was awkward. I was so used to being the one comforted by an adult, not trying to give them comfort. I almost yelped in surprise when he grabbed me and gave me a tight hug. I overlooked how sore I was and returned it. The man needed it; I could feel everything, his pain, loss, sorrow, in that small gesture.

"I'm glad you're alright Richie. Virgil would have wanted to make sure of that." Mr. Hawkins said.

"That's what he was doing. He made sure that Reiko and I got out of harms way. Something came out of nowhere, threw her into the lockers, and then hit him too. I had gone over to Reiko to make sure she was ok. Then the ceiling collapsed on us, and all I could do was try to protect her, since it was too late to help Virgil." I said.

"I'm sure he wanted you to do that." Mr. Hawkins said. Then he jumped up. "Reiko was there too! Has anyone told her father?"

"No. No one else can speak Japanese besides her. That I know of anyway." I said.

"I'll call a co-worker. He knows Japanese. Let's hope its enough to help Mr. Kinomoto. The poor man must be out of his mind with worry." Mr. Hawkins said, dialing his phone.

I smiled grimly. He was trying to keep his mind off Virgil. I didn't blame him; I was trying to do the same. All I could see was his face full of surprise and fear as that thing hit him, flinging him across the room. I hadn't seen it, I had no idea what was going on. I had let my mind immediately go towards wondering about Reiko's well being. I felt ashamed that my best friend hadn't come first in my mind, and wondered why I felt so strange when I looked into her eyes.

Soon enough Reiko was brought into the room by a nurse. She sat in a wheel chair, looking pretty mad. The nurse glowered down at her, and then smiled at me and the other nurse in the room. I was wondering about everything that had happened to cause Reiko to become upset.

"Reiko, it's alright. Your dad will be coming soon." I said softly.

Her face smoothed slightly when she heard me. The nurse smiled at me, a more real smile. I wondered just what her problem might be when she started rattling things off.

"She's not to leave the chair young man. Make sure of that." The nurse finished.

"Yes ma'am." I said and gulped.

I could only think of the nurse in a three ninja's movie when it came to this nurse. I was pretty sure that my hair was standing on end too by the time she had finished. A terrifying presence if I ever saw one. And that says a lot, with all the bang baby women I put up with. But the woman seemed more Norwegian than Japanese like the nurse in the ninja's movie.

Reiko folded her arms over her chest and sulked. The nurse just patted her head and walked away. I looked at Reiko, noticing for the first time how much pain she must have been going through. Her breathing was irregular, and every time she breathed, she winced in pain. I was wondering whose bright idea it was to send her home.

"Hey, take it easy Reiko. You don't want to end up like you did the last time, right?" I asked softly. She sighed.

"It my fault Virgil hurt so badly." She said, a tear falling down her cheek.

"No, he wanted to make sure you were ok. That's the kind of guy he is." I said.

Without thinking, I put my hand on hers to comfort her. She flinched at first, but put her other hand on top of mine. Every move seemed to threaten to send her into tears of pain.

"Thank you, tomodachi. You saved my life. I do not know how to repay." She said.

"I do it all the time Reiko. It's nothing." I said softly.

"No, is something. I help you, help Virgil." She said.

"Mr. Hawkins, Virgil is awake. If you all would like to see him, I'll let you. It can only be for a few moments however. He really needs his rest." Another nurse said, about ten minutes later.

* * *

Tadaaa.. another chapter  



	4. Being Static

Another Chapter. YAY!

Muahaha... just wait... they're gonna be so adorably whomped you won't be able to hold yourselves back (i'm kidding)

* * *

Reiko's POV 

I did not expect my injuries to be bad. My people had a way with avoiding harm, and healing quickly. But it had caused much pain to many others. Even though it was a genetic phenomenon, I felt so guilty. I was also sure it had been my being there that had brought all this upon us.

Mr. Hawkins led us to where Virgil was. I was unsure what I would see when I got there, but I didn't want to see what it was. Virgil's eyes were open and followed every move we made. I heard Richie's breath hitch at the sight of his best friend's bruises and cuts.

"I am sorry, Virgil. If we watched a little better, you wouldn't been hurt." I said.

"No, it's not your fault. You're both alright, and that's great. I'll heal real fast. You'll see. It looks worse than it is, really." Virgil said, smiling.

I smiled slowly, trying to blink back tears. I felt so horrible for all this. He was in the hospital, and would stay there for a little while. I had been released since my injuries hadn't been life threatening. One nurse thought I should have stayed, but I was sure that I would be fine in a day or so.

Slade. It had to be him that had brought this to us. He was still looking for me. He probably had sent that thing after me, to make sure that I knew, to keep me scared. It wasn't going to work. I would not let him do this to me. My life would not be led in the shadows. I would do what I could to pay him back.

Soon they ushered us out of the room. Chichi-san was there now, and Richie helped me into the car with the translator. I watched him from the car window as the translator helped Chichi-san into the passenger side, and got into the drivers seat. His dark eyes were watching me as well. I couldn't read the emotion within them, and only hoped that he was not angry with me.

I waved to him, a small gesture, as the car started. He waved back with a small smile as the vehicle drove away. I felt rather lonely without my two extraordinary friends with me. I felt like I couldn't speak with my father about what had happened or my feelings on the matter.

Everything seemed to be happening at once. I had been in the hospital twice since moving here, and we had only been there for a few months. It felt wrong. And I knew that someone was behind this. Someone seemed to want something from me.

"Genki desuka?" Chichi-san asked.

"Genki desu, Chichi-san." I replied, apparently not convincingly enough.

"I know you are in pain from this ordeal, but I can tell that there is more to your silence than that." He said in Japanese.

"I feel that I could have done more, made sure that Virgil hadn't gotten so badly hurt." I replied

"The important thing is that you all are alive. Virgil will heal well, and you will see that he does not blame you." Father said.

I nodded, and looked out the car window, ending the conversation. I didn't want to say more. We didn't know this interpreter very well, although it was a friend of Mr. Hawkins. I watched the stars, being absorbed into the feeling I always got when star gazing. I felt even more disconnected from the people I knew here, even people like Virgil and Richie.

Virgil was Static, and questions would come up. I know that was the foremost on the minds of my two friends, and was definitely on my mind. I had an idea of what I could do to help, but I would need Richie's help to accomplish it.

There was school the next day, although only half a day as soon as they found out that the part of the school that had collapsed was still a weak structure, and was unsafe.

I met Richie there; he looked a lot better than he had the day before while we were in the hospital. I was walking around in crutches. On the premise that he was helping me carry my things home, since I couldn't do it well enough on my own, we walked home.

"I've got an idea that could help us both." I said softly.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Virgil. He's going to be in the hospital a few days." I said.

"Yeah, I know. I feel really bad about that. But what has that got to do with anything?" He asked.

"We both know Richie. I'll let you know when I get home." I said.

"What about your dad? Is he going to be there?" Richie asked.

"No, he's with the translator, they're trying to get my father a job, and help him learn English." I said.

Soon enough we had gotten to my home. And I began to explain to him about kujiri kuri. It took a while, I wasn't all that used to English inside my home. I spoke it very little there, and constantly broke into Japanese.

"I am so sorry. I'm normally better with English." I said.

"It's alright. So, you're saying it's like a Jedi mind trick then right?" Richie asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I said with a slight smile. "I will need his costume however. I cannot make a strong enough illusion if I must conceal my entire self. You must also show me his fighting technique."

"Well, we'll work with the latter first. Backpack has some of our fights recorded. I'll have to go to the hideout for his spare costume though. His dad will be suspicious if I come over to grab something out of his bag." Richie said.

I nodded, and he brought out what he called Backpack. It was a robot of sorts, and startled me at how alive it seemed. We decided to go to my room, because I did not wish my father to walk in on such a thing, since it was best to keep their identities secret. He also had it set up just in case something came up with bang babies, he would be able to go out and fight.

"I think one fight without him would be alright. And I could probably leave you with a shock vox, since we're not sure if Slade is finished with you." He said.

He began to work on something small as we watched the fights. I concentrated hard on the way Virgil moved as Static, the kinds of things he did with lightning. It was amazing the control he had over his power. I wished that I had such control. I would ask him to help me. I didn't know if he would, but he was the only one that could without being hurt by me.

I was surprised when Richie grabbed my hand, what seemed like moments later.

"Hey, you ok Reiko?" He asked.

"I am fine. If I had control like Virgil, I could take these charms off." I said.

"Maybe. We'll see. You know, I'd still like to analyze some of those if I could. You never know, we could use them to help Virgil as well." Richie said.

"You can take one of my older ones." I said, getting up and dropping his hand.

I handed him a piece of jewelry I used to wear as a child. It was less decorative than what I wore now. Just a simple band with pieces that hung down in front of my ears. It was too small to wear now. Though what I wore now was pretty and elegantly done, most of it would be hidden by my hair, because it made me look too much like I was wearing a crown or something.

"You know, I don't think Virgil would mind if I took you to our hideout." Richie said after a moment of silence.

He grabbed my hand and darted out of my room, Backpack running after us and latching onto his back, appearing to be nothing more than a chrome backpack in a matter of seconds. He was on his skateboard in a moment, and I stood there staring at him incredulously.

"Come on. It'll be alright. I'm really good at it." He said, offering me his hand

I took it and he helped me onto his skateboard. I grabbed onto his waist tightly, only loosening my grip when he said he couldn't breath. We were off, his skateboard under its own method of propulsion I guessed.

* * *

Richie's POV 

After Reiko had loosened her grip around my waist a little bit, I felt rather comfortable. It was strange to have a passenger on my skateboard, but it was alright, I had fixed it up to balance itself if the weight shifted enough to take a dive. It was nice though. I felt her head buried between my shoulder blades as she hugged me close.

"It's alright Reiko, your not going to fall." I said, although I didn't want her to let go.

I felt her shake her head, and she gripped me tighter. Soon enough we were at the gas station though. We came to a stop and she didn't let go. I turned around as best I could, and grabbed her arms. She put her head on my shoulder, and I wondered what was wrong. She looked up at me, and I saw her crying.

"I'm sorry Reiko, if I'd have realized, we would have just walked." I said, mentally hitting myself for wanting to show her my tech.

"No, it not that Richie." She said softly. "I come here, you and Virgil, both treat me like friend, but I treat you worse. I am reason you both get hurt."

"No. We do stuff like this all the time." I said, directing her into the gas station, and Backpack cleared a place for her to sit. "We're used to it."

"But I am the reason that the school was attacked." She said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her, searching for Virgil's spare costume.

"Slade. He sent that thing there. For me. He knows what I am." Reiko sobbed.

"What are you then?" I asked her.

"Chichi-san, Gii-san, both say we are of a tribe, a clan of people from Japan. Elemental tribes. Not many gifted with power, but those that were, were special. My mother was a fire clan. She could use fire. Father has no power, but Gii-san and Baa-san both have power. They were water and air. When I was born, I had neither. I was lightning. Freak of nature. I don't belong anywhere." She said, the tears spilling down her cheeks.

I didn't know what to do. I knew what she felt like, not belonging anywhere, not even amidst family. I sat next to her, handing her a tissue. She wiped her tears away, looking embarrassed.

"You belong, Reiko. Virgil and I felt the same way, and we became friends. He doesn't feel he belongs because his mom died, and he thought she was the only one that understood him. He met her once… went back in time to try to save her. It was heart breaking for him. My mom hides from my dad. My dad's a racist. I don't feel like I belong there either, but I found where I could be. You will too." I said.

She smiled at me, and I felt better. She closed her eyes for a moment. It was as if she had never been crying, the puffy redness was gone. She opened her eyes, looking skyward. Then her eyes settled on me again, and I felt a bit uncomfortable.

She brushed loose hair back into her ponytail, little charms on her headpiece jingling when she touched them. I could see the power running through them. I picked up the costume, and handed it to her, and instead of looking back into her dark eyes and getting lost in them, I decided to do something else, like scan the jewelry she had handed me.

I didn't know what was wrong with me. She was a beautiful girl. Japanese, elegant and graceful. I had only known her for a few days. Of course I had known of her before that, but I had only gotten to really know her now. Why was I all befuddled when I saw her? And why did I want to sit and pull her into my arms to comfort her.

She was pulling the costume's gloves on when I finally got things situated to start my analyzing. I must have lost track of time, because I felt her tap me on the shoulder what seemed like seconds later.

"I did not think jewelry was so interesting. I have called your name for five minutes Richie." She said.

"I'm sorry Virgil. There are some really strange metals in the jewelry. Something's not adding up either. It's going to take a lot longer to analyze all this." I said.

That's when I did a double take. It was Virgil! What the hell? I thought I had heard Reiko's voice though. The hood was up on the costume, and Virgil hardly ever wore his costume like that. I pulled the hood down to see Reiko scowling at me from under the mask.

"That was creepy." I said.

"It was working even on you. That is good. You are close to Virgil, and would be hardest to trick." She said.

"He never puts the hood up." I commented.

"I noticed, but I wanted to be sure that I had his face and voice." She said.

"You'll need to work on the voice."

"We have time to practice. We should do so with powers as well." She said.

"Come on, I've got the perfect place to practice. Here, use this. It's one of his older flying discs, but you should be able to operate it, if you have even a fraction of his power." I said.

She scowled again, and put her hand out. The disc flew into the wall, not used to the pure lightning she threw at it. I laughed until she turned to me, looking upset.

"It's ok Reiko. You used a little too much juice. He works with electricity like you, but yours is based on the lightning side of electricity. That's like 1.21 jigawatts of electricity." I said.

She gave me this look that seemed like she might have laughed or scowled. I sighed and tried to pull it out of the wall. It took her help to get it out, and then she touched it softly, it charged up like Virgil always did it, and she stood on it. I donned my Gear costume, and she put the hood up, and it was like I was seeing a ghost. Well, as close to one as I could, seeing as Virgil was still alive.

* * *

I live on reviews... please give me some ;; 


	5. In the line of danger

I feel like I'm on a roll.

I still don't own them... as much as I wish I did.

* * *

Richie's POV 

Reiko and I spent the next two weeks training and patrolling. She was doing really well, considering I knew nothing of what Virgil did to control his powers. She had control over the disc, and could also fire off some of the same attacks he did, or something close enough.

We got a call from Mr. Hawkins that Virgil would be coming home from the hospital towards the end of the second week. Reiko was happy about that, seeing as she had a hard time controlling the disc and her illusion. She was always tired in class, but at least that kept her from burning out.

That was another thing that confused me. Apparently the metal from the jewelry she had handed me, wasn't from this planet. It didn't really surprise me, there were a lot of things on earth that were from another planet. Superman and the Martian Man Hunter being two big examples. But I didn't know how they got them, and what it all meant.

"Gear look out!" She screamed, in Virgil's voice.

I dodged Ebon's attack, and hit him with a flash grenade. He hated that, and I made sure that he wouldn't come back for a while. Reiko was flying around with Talon, trying to tire her out. She didn't want to hit her now, she was too into the fight, and wouldn't be able to throw something that might not kill her.

I threw another cap, and it caught her in a net. Reiko charged it with a minimal amount of electricity, and dragged it towards the police. She apologized for not capturing Ebon and flew off. I nodded to the policemen, and then took off on the street, in the same direction. It took a moment for me to scan and make sure that Ebon had really gone.

I caught up with Reiko. She had put the hood back up so she could let down some of her kujiri kuri. I still had no idea what it was, except for some sort of ninja mind trick. She had been working for a long time, trying to get it all to work so she didn't have to wear the hood up. I was proud of her, being able to work her strength up in it, to include Virgil's voice along with his looks, and to a point, even how he moved. But she still was pretty weakened by it.

I got to our meeting place before she did, and watched her fly in. She was so graceful. When her feet hit the dirt she jumped, happy. I was so happy for her, she had done great. I was sure Virgil would be happy with her performance too. I watched her, smiling as she seemed to glow, and not with the electricity she posessed, she seemed truly happy for the first time since I had met her.

Without thinking, I had run up to her and grabbed her around the waist twirling her around. She laughed; something I liked to hear as often as possible. With her feet on the ground, I pushed the hood back.

By the time my mind had caught up with my actions, I was kissing her, caressing her jawbone with my thumb, my other hand tangled in her hair. I felt a tingling in my lips, and jumped away. I was very sure that even my hair was blushing.

She looked at me, confused. But not half as confused as I was.

"I'm so sorry Reiko. I don't know what came over me. I wasn't thinking." I gasped.

"For once." She said, looking at the ground for a moment.

She wrapped her arms around my neck, and kissed me. It was as if I had been hit by lightning. I wrapped my arms around her waist, amazed at how she smelled, how she curved. I couldn't think of anything else if I had tried. Her lips tasted wonderful, and were so soft.

After a while we had to come up for air. I stared into her warm dark eyes. I kissed her again lightly, and then rested my cheek on the top of her head. I closed my eyes and my mind kicked into high gear trying to analyze the amount of energy we expended.

"Richie, try not analyzing every facet of life. For once, just enjoy it for what it is, live it like we do. Your brain may be more advanced than our own, but that is not all you are. Take a moment, find out who you are in here, what you really love, aside from trying to figure out how things work." She said, touching my chest, my heart.

"I'll do what I can, Reiko." I said, stroking her hair.

I put a finger under her chin, lifting her face towards mine. She smiled at me. I didn't analyze anything at that moment. I kissed her softly. Breaking away, she removed Virgil's coat and visor. We needed to get out of there before anyone saw us, especially with what we were doing, THAT would be a hard one to explain to Virgil, and half his fan girls. Though it would be hilarious to pretend, if not a tad bit embarassing. Our gear was soon stowed in a bag, and we walked towards the gas station.

I looked down at Reiko, tracing a thin scar along her arm with my finger. She moved slightly in her sleep, her head rested on my lap. I touched the cool metal of her armband, pondering the metal it was made of. I shook my head. She didn't want me to continuously think about what made things, down to a molecular level, just think about being happy. And that was what I was doing right then. I was thinking about how happy I was to have her next to me, and wondering how happy we would be in the future. Something in the back of my mind sent up a red flag, though not well enough to catch my full attention with her there on my lap. Some part of me knew that things couldn't be happy forever.

We were in the gas station. I was still thinking of the wild kisses we shared, not only after the fight, but as soon as we had gotten back to the gas station. Now, a few days later, Virgil was out of the hospital and at home. We had visited him a few times, asking him what he thought.

He had been surprised at first, and happy that he didn't have to spend all that time worrying about his secret identity being uncovered. He was a little depressed afterwards, feeling like he should be out there with us. But we had made him promise to have a full bill of health before he came back to being Static.

I played with Reiko's hair, watching her chest move slowly as she breathed. She was beautiful to me, even in her sleep or after a hard fight. The head band she wore was something she had decorated herself, and accented the graceful features of her face. All of her jewlery was made to accent her skin tone and stature, what was curious was the fact that she wore so much of it. Her father was even now fashioning another piece she would wear, earrings if I remembered correctly. He said it was because her powers seemed to be getting out of control even with the other charms set to stop it.

The door opened suddenly, I turned to see Virgil in the doorway. He was smiling at me, and then saw Reiko. His face took on a sheepish look.

"Ahhh! My eyes! I'm not interrupting anything am I?" He asked, covering his eyes.

"No, she's just tired from today. And the past week or so. Are you sure you should be here?" I asked.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Virgil said.

By that time Reiko had woken up, and was looking at Virgil with deep scrutiny. She stood up, pulling her hoodie zip up over her bare shoulders, the gas station was getting cold, and her tank top was pretty revealing. She walked around Virgil, and at one point stopped and stared deeply into his eyes, touching his forehead. She seemed to be listening to something, closing her eyes for a moment, and then opening them once more to peer deeply into his. I was a bit jealous, she had never looked at me like that.

"He'll be fine if he gets a little more rest. His chakra is fully healed, if only a little weak." She said, looking back at me smiling. "I was testing his chakra."

"I didn't know you could do that!" I said.

"It's hard to do. Reiki. I learned much of old fashioned healing and aura. Our people need to know such things, because they are important to our ways of life and a way to keep our power healthy. Not many people know of them. Your friend Robin, his team mate Raven knows of chakra, more than I do no doubt." Reiko said. "Besides, I'm still learning."

She sat down next to me again, ignoring Virgil's look of confusion. He looked at me, and I shrugged. He shrugged and walked towards the tech center, where gadgets lay here and there, unfinished. Backpack was set on standby to charge, and we were listening for an alert about bang babies.

"Looks like a lot happened while I was out of action huh?" He said, looking at me. I nodded.

"I guess so. Does it matter what happens between us?" I asked.

Reiko shook her head.

"No, our business is private. Public has not seen anything, don't worry Virgil." She said.

"I'm not worrying. It's just that I was listening a lot to the nurses that took care of me. They talked about you some Reiko. The whole hospital wonders about you. Not only do you have this abnormal electrical field, and you were really hard to treat, not to mention your injuries heal pretty fast. You need to be really careful from now on." Virgil said.

"What, they think I'm some sort of Kryptonian or something?" She asked.

"No, but it wouldn't surprise me if he decided to pay you a visit. He's stopped by a few times with Batman and the others to check up on us." Virgil said.

"At least I know." She said. "I should probably go home. Chichi-san will want to know where I am."

After she was gone, I looked at Virgil. He was frowning as he watched her. He turned to me, trying to smile.

"Hey V, you know you can tell me the truth, and I won't hate you for it." I said.

"I was just wondering. She took that pretty well. You think maybe she doesn't know, or that maybe she wonders herself?" He asked.

"I dunno. I hadn't thought to do any sort of scan on her." I said.

"That's a change. Not thinking." He laughed.

"I had some help." I said, feeling my face heat up.

"I bet you did." He said. I threw a pillow at him.

"I've been trying to scan some of the jewelry she has worn at some point, but it's difficult. They almost have the same field of energy that surrounds Reiko. I'll break through it in time though." I said.

"As long as you don't get distracted huh?" Virgil asked.

"You jealous V?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, just relieved. It's about time you found yourself a girl." He said.

"Says the one with girl problems." I scoffed. "Hey, you think we should let her join us?"

"The last time a girl joined us, we went back in time and failed to save the one person that really understood me. She barely has control of her powers. Someone could get hurt." Virgil said, seriously.

"You could help her do that. You could train her to use the electricity like you do." I said.

"She's got a different kind. You've said it yourself." Virgil said.

"Yeah, but you've been able to help her before." I said.

"I just don't want people to get hurt, Richie. You know that." He said softly.

"YOU don't want to get hurt again. I know that. I understand. But if someone doesn't help her learn control, she could die!" I shouted at him.

I spun around on him, his mouth gaping open. I probably had gone overboard. Virgil and I hardly ever shouted at one another like this. I was sure he was as surprised as I was that I had shouted, more so since I was turning my back on him. I got on my skateboard and was gone by the time he had reached the door and tried calling me back.

* * *

Reiko's POV 

I was so happy Virgil was alright. He was wary around me, unsure if he should intrude on the solitude Richie and I had grown accustomed to. I left to let the two friends talk, unsure what they might say, and only hoping that maybe I could help them. But I needed to talk to them.

At school the next day, both avoided me. I was confused, and very hurt. Every time I tried to speak with Richie, he looked at me like he wanted to touch me, and tell me it was alright, but he would look at the ground again, and walk away. And Virgil just looked confused.

I was outside at the end of school that day, watching the sky. It seemed that I was back like I always was, friendless. I was trying to concentrate my powers, trying to use them like I had pretending to be Static. It was becoming easier, but something always seemed to go wrong.

I lay there, feeling drained, and strange. I wanted to cry, not knowing what was going on between Richie and I, or Virgil. Suddenly I was drenched in cold water. I shrieked in surprise, and then felt my arm twisted around behind me. It hurt, but I only let out a small hiss of pain.

"Just like Static. Gets wet and can't do a damn thing." I heard a voice laugh.

I would have laughed myself. Static was weak against water was he? And they thought I was just like him. I would show them just what lightning did during a storm. Energy crackled around my arm, and he went flying backwards. My dress was a bit drier now, the electricity having been enough to start drying it at least. I was a little pissed that the water had been cold, not to mention it didn't help that my dress was not cotton. They were going to see just what you shouldn't do to a girls wardrobe.

I leapt off the bleachers carefully, and saw another group of bang babies. Fire, one with large feet. One with a huge nose. I sighed, getting into a fighter's stance. The weasel like one was easy to get rid of, and fire, he seemed to have a dislike for the way I played with electricity.

"I got rubber on me man. You can't electrocute me!" The Jamaican said.

He jumped, landed where I had been moments before. I spun and kicked. He seemed pretty able and swift. He dodged the attack, and we parried around that way for a little while, trying to get kicks in on one another.

The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. Right towards the bleachers. I concentrated as hard as I could, creating a sphere of electricity around me. The bleachers bent as if I were a meteor that hit. I stood, leaping to the ground, unscathed. I pitched forward suddenly, my vision blurring. I stumbled to my knees, trying to get up. I clung to a bar in front of me, but couldn't see.

"Seems like those things are working like he said they would. Come on. Let's get her out of here. Static and Gear will be coming for her soon enough. When they do, I want a piece of the action." I heard as everything faded away.

* * *

ta daaaaaaa REVIEW! Either that or I'll send my squirrel ninja's to throw nuts at you all... muahahahahahahaha! choke 


	6. What is the real truth

Might be the last chapter for a little bit. I'm writing a few chapters ahead, but I'm not finished yet.

* * *

Reiko's POV 

I came to somewhere familiar. I didn't know what it was at that moment, but I was sure if I was given some time, that I would figure it out. I groaned as I felt my head pounding with my heart. It was loud enough to block out all other noises. Soon enough it died down.

"Hey Kangor, looks like she's wakin up. What're we supposed to do now? She's gonna fry us if we ain't careful."

"No problem Weasel. She not be movin any time soon. Hard as I hit her." Kangor said with a laugh.

It was my turn to laugh. Virgil had been the first to really comment on how fast I seemed to heal. I would be fine in a little while. I took that time to figure out exactly what had been done to me. The one Weasle had referred to as Kangor had spoken truly. He had hit me pretty hard.

I was tied, with twine. That wouldn't be too hard to mess with. All I had to do was hit it with lightning, not try to manipulate it. It would catch fire quickly. My dress was hitched at an odd angle. I would have growled, but I didn't want to alert them to my wakefulness. I began to move it around so it was back to where it should be. I was sure they hadn't done anything to me since knocking me out, I would have known it immidiately.

I used kujiri kuri to make them think I was still unconscious. I wasn't able to focus all the energy I wanted to, but it worked. I lit the rope on fire, and in a flash I was on my feet, whipping the flaming twine around and hitting Weasel. Kangor leaped up and tried to hit my stomach.

I grabbed at his feet and twisted, landing hard on the ground. I flipped up, effectively keeping my dress from doing anything awkward. We were in a warehouse by the docks. I sighed, and jumped up, using the electricity in the same way that Virgil used to keep his disc in the air. The metal in the floor and my shoes helped me gain altitude.

I kicked the window out, the glass sprinkled onto the ground. I grabbed the sill and flipped out the window onto the fire escape, gouging my arm in the process. The green dress was splashed with crimson. I held the arm as close to me as possible, so I wouldn't leave a blood trail.

I ran. My tennis shoes making little noise on the pavement. I could hear the shouting bang babies. I ran harder, away from my home and the residential district. I ran past officers, who shouted at me for running into one of them. I shouted an apology to them, and tried to warn them about the bang babies.

I tripped and fell to the sidewalk, scraping my knees and hands. I gasped from where I was, then flipped up and continued running. I only hoped that the cops were announcing over their radio that there were bang babies running loose. Maybe, just maybe, Gear and Static would show up and help me, if they would get over whatever it was that was upsetting them.

I couldn't hear them, and wasn't sure if they were still following, but I had my answer a few moments later when I went flying through a hotel restaurant window into a cart of desserts. It felt slimy and disgusting, but was a much softer landing than I could have hoped for. There was glass everywhere, and I was pretty sure that my side was impaled on something. The main clue I had was the fact that I couldn't move, and I saw a jagged piece of glass ominously above me.

It was a numbing pain. I laid there and began to laugh softly. I had the worst luck. The second time being injured. This was worse, I could tell. I felt the blood pumping towards the wound, but very little was coming back. There was another crash somewhere I was sure that was close by.

"You really oughtta do something about your hair. It's a mess girl. I mean, it's how we found Static knew you. You hair was all over him. Caught a big whiff of your shampoo, and knew that he'd been near you. We used it to find you." Weasel said. Then he swore loudly, running to my side.

I groaned. The pain was clouding my thoughts, and the blood loss wasn't doing me any good either. Weasel could smell the blood, and made a noise of disgust as Kangor came in and tried to pick me up. Weasel had been pressing something against my side. He lashed out, trying to get the bigger man's attention.

"Don't! She's gonna bleed to death if we're not careful." Weasel said. "That thing is stopping a majority of the bleed out, move her, and you've got little time until she's a goner. We're gonna get our asses kicked by him, I just know it! She needs a medic!"

With another crash, there was a scream from somewhere above me. Weasel landed against a wall. Kangor tromped off and I felt someone take my hand and squeeze it. There was pressure on my side again. The blood stopped flowing out of my body at the rate it had been, blocked by whatever it was exerting pressure there. With the accelerated healing I possessed, maybe I wouldn't bleed to death.

"Reiko, come on. Don't die on me." Richie said, from far away.

I opened my eyes. His face was surrounded by a halo. I reached up to touch it, but couldn't. He was Gear now, wearing a mask. I could see his eyes, full of pain. Not physical though. Tears glistened there, I never thought I'd see someone like him cry. I would try not dying, but I couldn't guarantee him that, and that was what pained me the most. I wanted to give Richie what he asked for, but it was so much easier to give in and go to sleep. Maybe I'd meet my mother finally, and stop feeling the pain of torn roots that take forever to grow in new soil. It would be the last time I was uprooted.

"I'm so sorry Reiko. I'm so sorry." He whispered.

"No, don't be." I said.

"I was so upset with Virgil, and so worried that your power might kill you. I'm sorry." He said.

"No. I'll be alright. Take me out of here, please." I asked weakly.

He picked me up, I laid my head on his shoulder so I could see where we were going. Static was flying above, putting the finishing touches on some trash bins holding Kangor and the Weasel. I watched it all, feeling some strength return to me. I whispered to Richie, and he put me down, keeping his arm around my waist, to hold the cloth against my side. I ignored the blood starting to drip from the cloth, and he didn't notice it at all. We watched Virgil fly around once, and then he landed.

"We need to get you out of here." He said softly.

"No more hospital, please." I said.

"You're going to bleed to death Reiko." Richie said.

"No, I will be fine. I can heal." I said.

"I'm calling the Titans. They can take care of you until you're healed." Virgil said.

"What about my father and school?" I asked.

"We'll take care of that Reiko. Don't worry about it. You took care of us, we'll take care of you now." Virgil said. "I'm sorry about before. You helped us, and I could only think that I wanted my job back."

"It's alright." I said.

* * *

Richie's POV 

Reiko collapsed. I already had a hold of her, so caught her before she hit the ground. I picked her up again, making sure her dress wouldn't fly up or anything. There was food all over it, and in her hair. I combed my fingers through her hair, as Virgil watched. I was pretending that her blood wasn't dripping from the soaked cloth I was holding against her side. It seemed futile anymore to try to stop the blood. In my heart somewhere, it told me she would die.

"Come on Gear. We need to get her out of here. Whether or not she heals quickly, that's a lot of blood lost, and one wrong move could kill her." Virgil said.

"I know man. Lets go. The Tower shouldn't be too far." I said.

"The Titans are prepared for us." Virgil said.

I sat in the Titan Tower for hours. Raven and Cyborg were attending to Reiko. I didn't know what was going on. Virgil and Robin were talking in another room, and I was nervous as could be. Every time that Raven or Cyborg came out of the room they were working in, I'd almost have a heart attack. They had better luck with Reiko's electricity than I did, but not as much as Virgil did. But they didn't want him in there when they were in need of concentration.

"She can have visitors now, but only one at a time." Cyborg said, coming out again.

"She lost a lot of blood. Luckily her body has an accelerated healing factor, otherwise she would have died. But she is still in danger." Raven said.

"I bet she could still light up the tower though." Beast Boy said.

"She lit me up pretty good, even with Raven channeling her mind to help control the electricity. Something is not right with that girl. It was like the moment someone tried to use their mind to help her, she lashed out." Cyborg said.

"It was strange. She has control, not a lot, but enough to stop her power from 'burning out' as you put it, but there is something that diverts her control. I don't know what it is. It could be something implanted in her head, or something as simple as something she wears. Someone wants to keep her from being able to control her abilities." Raven said.

I nodded, and looked at Virgil. He motioned for me to go. I smiled in relief. I took off my helmet as I walked into the medical room. Raven and Cyborg were still talking with Robin and Virgil, Beast Boy followed me in. I saw Reiko laying on a high tech version of a hospital bed. She was wearing something of Starfire's, showing the wound in her side. Raven and Cyborg had done a great job of fixing her up. When the stitches were taken out later on, the scar would hardly be noticeable. It was in the shape of a small crescent moon.

"Wow, she's pretty when she's cleaned up." Beast Boy said. I glared at him. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it man. I just never saw someone as hurt as she was, when she was just an innocent bystander. We get hurt all the time, but she was just minding her own business."

"That's what Virgil and I are for. We help keep people like her safe. But we had to be stupid and pissed off at each other, and she paid the price." I said.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. You can't be everywhere at once. Just be there for her. I think she'd appreciate it." Beast Boy said.

"She'll hate me for this." I said.

"No. You were there for her when she needed you the most, and if she has a sliver of the same feelings you've got for her, then she'll want you there when she wakes up. I'm gonna go make some tofu dogs. You want anything?" He asked.

"No. I'm fine." I said. He nodded and left.

I took Reiko's hand in mine, kissing it lightly. She seemed so frail now. I sat down next to her, stroking her hair, admiring the way it shined and outlined her face. I wanted her eyes to open so I could see the strange and beautiful colors of her eyes, and watch her smile at me, and laugh. I pleaded in my head that she would open her eyes, and say something to me, anything, even if it were more of her harsh words from the first time we met her.

"It was not your fault, Richie-san. You came to me when I was injured, instead of turning away to fight." She whispered softly.

"But if I hadn't been so pissed off at Virgil that I had ignored you, you would have been safe." I said.

"No, they came after me to get to Gear and Static. They would have done worse to people less able to defend themselves." She said.

"I'm glad you can fight like you do." I said softly.

"Me too. They wanted me. Someone told them to come for me. Somehow they smelled me on Static's costume." She said, becoming anxious.

"Sounds like Weasel. He can smell almost anything." I said.

"They won't stop coming. I'm better off gone, they will keep hurting people, hurting you to get to me." She said, getting hysterical.

"Reiko, please. Your going to hurt yourself if you don't calm down." I said. She threw her arms around me and sobbed.

I didn't let go of her until she had fallen asleep. I wiped her tears from her face, watching her for a moment. It looked like she hadn't just been sobbing her pain away. It was strange how she seemed to be able to walk through a mudslide and come out looking perfect. I sat in there for a long time, I don't know how long. I just sat there, holding her hand, and whispering to her that none of this was her fault. Starfire came in and told me to get some sleep, she sat down next to Reiko and seemed to fall into a trance as she watched her. Robin guided me out, and I don't even remember being led to a room, I just passed out. I awoke in an uncomfortable position, still having most of my costume on.

I jumped out of bed, remembering all of the day before. I had had nightmares about it. I remembered finding the mangled bleachers of our football field, and how we were confused at what could have caused the damage. That's when I had found Reiko's purse, and began to piece together what had probably happened. We heard over the scanner that there were bang babies running loose downtown, chasing someone. I felt the guilt flood my brain, and make everything seem to go so slow. In my mind I knew that it wasn't actually slow, that time was running at it's normal speed, but my heart felt like it took forever to find Reiko, and even longer to reach her.

I put my face in my hands, still smelling the blood. I then realized that I hadn't washed my costume off since bringing Reiko to the tower. Her blood had poured from the wound in her side, dripped through the towel we had used to stem the flow, soaked into my gloves, and stained my hands. I used the bathroom in the room to wash my gloves as best I could. I couldn't get the blood off my hands. I heard the door open, but I didn't turn around, I kept scrubbing at my hands, trying to wash her blood off.

"Richie, you better get out there, otherwise you'll be stuck with Beast Boy's cooking." Virgil said.

"I can't, I've got to wash this blood off my hands." I said.

"What blood? Oh. Oh Richie. It's not your fault. None of this was your fault. Reiko is alive, and healing quickly. If you hadn't figured things out, she would be in serious trouble. You saved her life man." Virgil said.

"You can't see the blood. Its there man, it is. It dried on, I didn't wash it off last night. It's there, it is. Can't you see it?" I said, feeling tears streaming down my face. I had practically killed Reiko with my own hands.

"Snap out of it Richie! None of this is your fault!" Virgil shouted, shaking me.

I collapsed to the floor, not caring that I was sobbing like a baby. I tried to wrestle away from Virgil when he sat next to me, hugging me. I felt like such an idiot. Crying, my best friend treating me like an infant. But he wouldn't let go. I sobbed on his shoulder, about everything I had felt, and thought about Reiko, everything I wanted to do and say to her, and how I felt that it was my fault, that she was going to die because of me. Virgil squeezed me tighter as he spoke to me.

"It's not your fault Richie. They would have found another way to get to her, and we wouldn't have known where to start. You helped find her, you saved her life." He said, over and over again. Slowly I stopped crying.

* * *

Awwww, poor Richie kun was crying... ok... so maybe that wasn't too in character, but I do have artistic liscense.

And I checked... i still don't own em... although... once I take over the world... MUAHAHAHA!

REVIEW PLEASE! It's like food... and I don't have much of that around here...


	7. A secret revealed

Alright, after that slightly emotional little chapter.. I hope to have some reviews... :Checks: awww come on people:cries:

I still don't own em...

* * *

Richie's POV

"You say a word BB, and you're a dead… whatever." Cyborg said

I looked up, sheepish and embarrassed to see Raven and the others there. Cyborg and Beast Boy were already leaving, one of them slung over the shoulder of the other. Raven came in with Robin and Starfire. Virgil stood and walked to a corner with Robin where they began to talk. Raven looked at me, and Starfire handed me something to wash my face with, pretending nothing was out of the ordinary, and they didn't just see a super hero spill his guts while he was bawling on his best friend's shoulder.

"Reiko is fine, she will be about and out in no time!" Starfire said cheerfully.

"She means out and about. She's healing quickly now that she's been stitched up. She should be ready to go back home soon, but I wouldn't suggest any harsh activities. I don't want you carting her back here in worse shape than before." Raven said.

"Yeah." I muttered.

"Knock it off Richie. Your pity party won't do anyone any good, especially Reiko. She's awake now, and I'm pretty sure you'd be a welcome visitor." Raven said, I looked at her, startled that she would say something like that.

Starfire stood, handing me a set of clothes. I looked at what I was wearing and sheepishly realized that I was covered in more than just blood, but it looked like a mess. I had no idea what half of it was. They all left, Virgil the last one, watching me warily. I changed out of my Gear costume, and into something that probably had belonged to Cyborg at one point. It was a bit big, but I could handle it with a few changes here and there with Backpack's help. I washed my face, and began soaking the costume, hoping that it would be savable. It made me wonder if most superheroes did their own laundry since it would be a little difficult to explain why you needed a blood stain out of a costume that looked a bit like the Flash's own.

I walked out to the common room, and was given a plate of cold toast, but I didn't mind. I chowed down, stopping only to gulp some milk. I had forgotten how hungry I normally got after fighting. I was gone moments later towards the infirmary.

"What is he, the human vacuum cleaner?"

"No Beast Boy, that's you. Of course, I'm sure Richie does a much better job of keeping his food IN HIS MOUTH!" Raven said, shouting the last few words at the green guy.

I smiled, which turned into a frown as I stood in front of the door. I heard a small noise inside the room, and charged in to see Reiko trying to stand. I rushed forward, catching her. She whimpered in pain, I felt like a clod. I gently helped her to lie down, making sure that she hadn't pulled any stitches out while she was moving. She looked at me with a smile, trying to hide the pain in her eyes. I brushed her hair from her eyes, kissing her cheek.

"Am I able to leave yet?" She asked.

"No, not until Cyborg and Raven say it's ok." I said softly.

"Tell them I want to go. My father is going to be very worried. And you need to go back and be at school, helping Dakota." She said.

"I'm not leaving without you. I want to know you will be alright." I said.

"She will be. You can't leave just yet Reiko. There's something wrong with your powers. Something is causing you to loose whatever control you had over them. If we can find what that is, then you will be able to have control. Every time someone tries to help you or you try to put a tighter lid on the powers, it slips through your grasp. Someone is trying to make sure you loose control, and either get yourself killed, or make sure that you're weak enough when the time is right, or wrong really." Cyborg said.

"I can't stay here without causing trouble." Reiko argued.

"We'll let you go in a day or so. But we're going to keep an eye on you." Raven said. Reiko smiled weakly.

"You need to get back to Dakota though, Gear. Ebon is raising some trouble, and we need to take care of Slade." Robin said.

I nodded. Reiko looked at me, and squeezed my hand. I was gone in a moment, getting ready to leave. As soon as my costume was dry, and Virgil was ready to go, I went to say goodbye to Reiko. She was sad that I had to leave, especially without her. But we knew it was for the best. She would hopefully be back in school in a day or so, and we would be speaking to her father, not telling him too much, but letting him know that Reiko was alright and would be home soon.

Reiko's POV

The Titans were in and out of their Tower all day. I was sure they were fighting and everything, and it made me want to get out of there even more. I could be helping, instead of lying on a hospital bed, with an injury. To make matters worse, I knew that Raven and Cyborg were right. I had to heal. And there was indeed something that was diverting whatever control I had gained. I hadn't wanted to believe it the years before when I had thought of it the first time. I urged my body to heal faster than it usually did, praying that I would be able to get out of there soon.

After two days there, I was able to go back to Dakota, with Raven and Cyborg giving me a list of things I could and couldn't do, and things I should eat as well as safe katas for me to do to build back up to where I had been without hurting myself further. It was the weekend, and I wanted more than anything, to see Virgil and Richie. But my father was making phone calls to the school and various other places to let them know I was back, and alright. Then he wouldn't let me leave the house. I figured that he was terrified of loosing me like he had HaHa-san.

Finally I was able to escape the house late on Sunday. I ran off towards Richie's house, only to find he wasn't there, and he wasn't at Virgil's house, although his father gave me a tight hug and said he was glad I was back, and alright. He pointed me off in the direction of the theatre, though I was sure that Virgil and Richie probably weren't there. I went to the hideout, and it was empty, though I knew I was closer, the electric field around me letting me know that they had been here about ten minutes earlier. I sat in there a little while longer, listening to the scanner. Sure enough there was news of a fight, Static and Gear were involved.

I ran off towards the area the fight had been in. I got there while it was still raging, fire and shadow were fighting with tech and electricity. I hid in the shadow of a building, keeping an eye on both the bang babies, not wanting to become a part of their show, and especially not so I could be used as a bargaining chip against Static and Gear. I did help get civilians out of the way when the fight started to spread. I was sure that it would last much longer, when Ebon suddenly gave up and disappeared. I kept moving so he wouldn't have the time to use the shadows to find me. I looked up to see the two super heroes surveying the damage that had been caused, and caught Gear's eye. He looked at Static, and was gone. Moments later, Richie came running around the corner to find me. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, and I buried my face into his neck.

Static had gone, and so Richie and I walked back to my home, hand in hand. ChiChi-san was not thrilled that I had left the house without letting him know, but was glad that I was back. School went on, week after week. Summer vacation was coming up, and I was glad that I had lasted this long in Dakota. I was sure that my death was imminent in this city. I had been to the hospital at least twice, and had to be taken to the Titan Tower the third time I had been injured. I would be happy to concentrate my time on something other than school, and keeping away from bang babies that had nothing better in mind for me than trying to injure me.

I walked out into the sunshine, smiling. My friend Kailie had invited me to her home for supper, and I couldn't wait. I had let Virgil and Richie know where I would be, and let them know that I would be fine. Kailie was a wonderful cook, of traditional Hawaiian dishes, and there was something about her that told me that she was safety. Richie wanted to come with, since he didn't know Kailie too well, but I let him know it was because she was new, not as new as I was, but he hadn't paid that much attention to students before.

I was walking home later on, happy that I had been able to make some nice friends while I was a new student. I still hadn't found a way to control my powers. I was upset about that. I saw Richie waiting on my doorstep, and hurried up to him, leaning against him to listen to his heartbeat. He stood there for a moment, without saying anything, his arms wrapped protectively around me. Then he spoke.

"Did you tell me who made your charms? I can't remember if you did." He said.

"ChiChi-san makes them for me as I get older, he needs to strengthen them so I don't burn out." I said, not moving.

"You sure that's the reason?" He asked.

"Yes. Why do you ask Richie?" I said, looking at him.

"Because, I finished analyzing the charms you gave me, and had Cyborg run a scan just to make sure. Those charms aren't there to help you. They're to make sure you never gain control of your powers." Richie said. I moved away.

* * *

There's one of you out there that would know who Kailie is... more of you if you've read my first Static fic. If you haven't, go read it. The final chapter of this story is going to involve a bit of that story, and it might confuse some of you if you don't know what she is. And besides, from what Anacsadder has said, it's an ok story 

Please review. I know the chapter was short, but I wanted to build up the suspense.


	8. A betrayal

And here is our next little installment into a fiction about characters I don't own... (that counts as a disclaimer right?)

Ok... story thus far- Reiko is the new kid, she's got power over electricity, but it's different from Static, because his is 1. gained from the bang baby gas, and Reiko's is genetic and 2. Her's is lightning based, and Static's isn't.

Reiko and Richie have got a little thing going on... and beleive me that was unexpected. Richie just kept poking me in the back of the head because he's tired of V-man getting all the girls. Who am I to argue? Then again, I turned him into a blubbering mess around chapter six, so I got my revenge. Now he's about to land a bomb on Reiko about why exactly her powers haven't been working the way they should. It's got something to do with her dad, and our main bad guy, Slade I bet... But Richie isn't telling me all that much.

Without further ado (especially since your all rolling your eyes, and I've got to get back to working on the story) HERE YOU GO!

* * *

Reiko's POV

"How can you say this? Why would ChiChi-san do such a thing, I am his daughter!" I shouted.

"I don't know Reiko. All I know is that those charms are doing whatever they can to keep you from controlling your powers. Maybe he intends to use you to power something, or maybe he's making sure that you don't use the powers you inherited. Maybe he's making sure that you're weak enough to be captured. Don't you think it's a bit odd that you've been hounded by Slade, someone who's usually more interested in Robin, and that those bang babies were talking about something working the way they should. If that's true, your powers would have worked, not drained." Richie said.

I backed away from him.

"No, it's not true, it's not possible, ChiChi-san would never do this to me." I said.

Richie put his hand on my arm. "I don't think he's your father, Reiko." He said.

"No!" I said, slapping his hand away. I saw ChiChi-san, standing there. He had heard it all. "ChiChi-san! Gomen nasai!"

"It's alright Reiko." He replied in Japanese.

"I didn't believe." I said.

"But it's true. How very true. Your friend here knows quite a bit. I'll have to make sure I deliver him to Slade as well. Come here Reiko-san" He said.

I couldn't believe this. I backed up, not wanting to believe either of them. I felt Richie tugging on my hand, and I tried to get away. It was a blur, I felt like I was in a dream. I was brought up short, screaming in pain. Someone had a hold of my hair. I spun around and tried to land a kick. Unfortunately, ChiChi-san knew martial arts as well. Both of us were at a disadvantage. I was crying, realizing that many things had begun to make sense, my father's lack of powers, why he always had to make the charms, why I felt like my control slipped through my fingers.

Richie had removed most of the charms I had on one arm. I used the power I had, the small bit of control that I could have, and hit ChiChi-san with enough electricity to start a man's heart. He flew backwards. I fell to my knees, screaming at the sudden pain in my head. Richie was by my side in a moment, getting rid of as many charms as he could. The rings, bracelets, necklace. The headband was hardest, but once we had wrestled it from my head, the pain stopped. He made a choking sound as he was grabbed by ChiChi-san.

"Reiko! Get the hell out of here!" he shouted.

"No! I can't leave you here. You never left my side when I was injured!" I cried out, tears streaming down my face. "I can't leave you now after all this!"

"That doesn't matter now. You have to escape!" He shouted. He pressed a button on his sleeve.

I flew back a few feet, unharmed, and saw Backpack rushing in to help Richie. He shouted at me again, and I ran. I was sobbing as I ran, knowing that I had left Richie to fight the one person I had trusted my entire life, with my life. I realized that my life had been a lie. Nothing was true, except for the memories I had of living around Metropolis. But the lies ChiChi-san had told me. I laughed bitterly through my tears, that I still referred to him as my father.

I spent the night running. I had run from Richie, from the man who had called me his daughter, running out of tears to shed for the death of my life. And I ran from the truth. I crashed into something solid, and fell to the ground. I didn't get back up, too tired to continue running. I was prepared to let whoever it was take me. He reached down and helped me to stand. I cried out in relief, realizing it was Static.

"Is Richie alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. Your dad roughed him up a bit before he could get Backpack in there to help him." Static said. "But, he's been captured.

I bent down and removed the last of the charms from around my ankles, and the one from my belt. I didn't want him to see the emotion welling up in my eyes. A moment later, I looked at Static, Virgil, and felt something I never had before. I was sure that my powers were thanking me for releasing them to be what they should. I was beginning to see memories, of something before, they weren't clear, and seemed to be that of another person almost. I looked at Virgil, knowing that even without the charms, my powers could fly from my control, since I had little to begin with as it was. I could do some serious damage.

"Will you help me?" I asked him. He just looked at me.

"I don't think that I'm the one you should be asking for help." He said.

I looked at him as tears of frustration welled up in my eyes. I felt heat in my cheeks as my anger fought my control over my power. I moved my hand, and with but a thought I snatched out of his pocket, the little folded up piece of metal he flew on. The electricity flowed around it, and I threw it at his feet, hearing his gasp of surprise, and the sound metal makes when it shakes.

"You don't understand anything!" I screamed at him. "You, you had a chance to be normal once! But me, I was born this way!" I screamed in frustration and turned away, running. I didn't care where I went, as long as I ran. My emotions were too much, I would either burn out, or hurt someone.

"Hello Princess. It seems I finally get the chance to have you all to myself. It's so wonderful to finally meet you in person."

I jumped back, and tried to run away. I couldn't, whoever it was had a vise like grip on my arm. I spun around, and used my most powerful kick, one that would have disabled most men. With it, I used my powers of lightning. He caught my foot, Slade, and twisted. I screamed, feeling as if my foot were breaking. Then he punched me, and I flew into a wall. I gasped as I struggled to stand. I couldn't put weight on my foot, and knew that I wouldn't last too much longer in this fight.

"Your Highness better calm down. It's rude to engage in combat with someone who holds the life of the one person you really care about in the palm of his trigger happy hand." Slade said, grabbing my hair and yanking my head so I was looking into his eyes.

"What have you done with Richie?" I spat.

"Nothing, yet. You better agree to come with me, quietly Princess, or I won't hesitate to make him suffer." Slade said.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm no princess." I said.

"But you are. Did you ever wonder why when you look at the stars, you feel so far away? Why your 'father' never had any powers? He did tell you a half truth. There are tribes in Japan that are elemental, but they are descendants of the people from your planet, the power a mere trickle in their blood. And never did your kind mingle with the people of earth. Your kind ruled the planet. Until your mother sent you away with a man she thought she could trust. And now, I'm going to take you home. And then I will destroy it, and take your place as ruler." Slade said.

With that, he punched me. I didn't remember anything for a while after that. When I began to wake up, I first felt the split lip, and the blood that was dried there. Then I felt sore and as if there was a fire racing through my veins, starting at my foot. I couldn't remember why I would be in such pain. I couldn't smell anything but oil, and dirt. Sound came next, a body close to mine, breathing slowly. Sight returned next, a dim room. I couldn't move, I was shackled to the floor. I could barely make out Richie's form next to me. I hoped that he was alright. My healing factor was already making the split lip seal up. My foot would be alright in a few hours, it had to realign itself with the way the bone was supposed to be, and then heal the fracture there.

"Reiko, are you alright?" Richie whispered.

"I'm better than I have been in the past. Are you alright Richie?" I whispered back.

"I'm fine. Your father…" Richie started.

"That man is NOT my father." I hissed.

"He's gone. He packed up all his stuff and left town quickly. Your stuff is still there, a bit of a mess, but otherwise, intact. Virgil's dad is calling authorities." Richie said. I laughed bitterly.

"Of course they won't catch him. He'll slip right through their fingers." I said.

"We've got more important things to worry about." Richie said. I nodded.

I reached my hand out as far as I could, and he did the same. We could barely touch one another's fingertips. I began running things through my mind, trying to think of a way to escape. I knew kujiri kuri wouldn't work on Slade. His mind was too powerful for that, and he would just turn around and make it do more harm to me than I would be able to do to him. My foot still throbbed in pain from my earlier attempt at attacking him.

"Now isn't that cute. The Princess has found a friend. Did you know that your people choose their mates early in life? I'd say about your age actually." Slade said, kneeling down and grabbing my face.

"What's he talking about Reiko?" Richie asked.

"What, she hasn't told you? My my, this IS interesting. Especially seeing as you two are so close." Slade said, letting my face go.

"I didn't know any of this. I still don't think it's true, you bastard." I said.

"But you do know." Slade said. "And your memories, they should have started coming back as soon as you removed the headpiece."

"Those weren't dreams?" I whispered.

"No, Princess. Your family has a long memory. And a long infancy. You have no idea just how old you are Princess. Living on earth has shortened it, but only slightly. Reiko is from a planet far away from here. She's a princess from a long line of Queens and Kings. Like your pal Starfire, she has special abilities and strengths. Once they reach adulthood, they are welcomed into the royal family through a ceremony. They rule the entire planet. It was peaceful up until about fifteen years ago. Then the High Princess was taken from her rooms in the palace. How thrilled your family will be to see you returned. But they will fall under MY rule." Slade said. He stood up and began to mess with a computer of some sort.

"I can't let him do this. If he's right, those are MY people. I can't let them suffer under his malignant mind. He would be the worst ruler ever. I can remember, like a communal memory. Or something like that. We had someone come to us once before, offer to marry my sister. In a trial of his ability to rule, many were killed, including some of my siblings. I became next in line. Then, everything is hazy for a little bit. But it was so long ago." I said.

"We'll stop him Reiko. I won't let him hurt you, or your people, or I'll die trying." Richie said.

"No, this isn't your fight." I said.

"It is, because I care about you. I would do anything just to see you smiling." He said. I shook my head.

"I'm an alien Richie. How could you think the same way about me?" I asked softly.

"Because, it doesn't matter where you come from. It's who you are. And you are the most amazing person I know." Richie said.

I touched his fingers again, feeling tears on my face. Slade returned a little while later, grabbing the shackles that held me to the floor, and dragging me to a crate. After attaching the end to a loop in the crate, he went back, bringing Richie in a moment later. We were moving within moments, and I knew that we were leaving. I was slammed against Richie, and the crate was knocked over, and I thought my arms were going to be ripped out of their sockets. Soon the violence was over and we were swung back to where we were before.

"Now Princess, your going to give me the coordinates of your home planet." Slade said. He dragged me out of the crate, Richie yelling protests.

He dropped me on the floor, and I could see nothing but space. It was moving quickly. I was amazed at the stars, and how familiar some of them seemed to me. I felt something grip my neck, I cried out, trying to squirm away. Slade grabbed my arm and squeezed.

"Keep fighting, and I'll break every bone in your body. Give me those coordinates." He hissed.

"I don't remember them! I was an infant when they took me." I gasped out.

"You're lying. I know those coordinates are in there. And you know them. You will tell me." He growled.

"No! Those are my people, I won't betray them!" I cried out as he twisted my arm behind my back harder.

"They aren't your people; they haven't been since you began growing up on earth. Your heart doesn't belong there. It belongs with that scrawny kid back in the crate. If you want that kid to stick around a while longer, I suggest you give me what I want." Slade whispered in my ear.

He twisted my arm behind my back painfully. I cried out, trying to get away. I thought of Richie, and Virgil, and what they would do, should they be faced with something like this. I knew that Richie would love to go on breathing, but not at the extent of an entire planet's people.

"Why would they give the coordinates of a planet to an infant? No child can fly a space ship, let alone a car." I said, clenching my teeth.

"The same reason a child is taught to memorize there telephone number Reiko." Slade replied. He laughed.

* * *

And thus ends this chapter... I told you it had to deal with Chichi-san and Slade! There were a few bits in there where she conversed in Japanese with her 'father' but I didn't write it in Japanese because romaji bugs me. If it's not in hiragana I can't read it well... and anyway. Thats it till I can get a bit further in my outlining of the story. 


	9. Far From Home

Alas... here we go. It's not too much further... I hope you enjoy!

Dushu: Yeah, especially since you'll have two chapters with songs in them. A song fic! her first ever! Amazing:Applause:

Death will come for you Dushu... it will come for you yet.

Dushu: o0 yipe... anyway...we still don't own it.

* * *

I heard her screaming for what seemed like hours. Slade came back, unhooking me from the crate. I stood up, watching him for a moment, he just beckoned me forward, and I felt a rock hit my stomach right next to my heart. I followed, quietly. This man was insane. He was worse than any of the bang babies that we went up against, combined, and multiplied tenfold. He fought better than any of us, his mind was twisted and dark. No one could figure out what he was doing or why.

"Get her out of the way. Stay out from under my feet, and I may let you both see the morning." Slade growled.

Reiko was in a heap on the floor, her hair was like a black puddle on the floor. She wasn't moving.

"What the hell did you do to her?" I screamed, running at him and throwing a punch. He caught my fist, twisting.

"Maybe your not so scrawny after all, boy. She's still alive, so you have nothing to be upset about. It took more coercing on my behalf to get the information from her. Now unless you want me to actually kill her, and you for that matter, get her out of the middle of the floor." Slade growled.

He threw me to the floor, and I held my hand close, it felt like every bone had been crushed. I crawled over to Reiko, lifting her head in my hands. Blood trickled from her nose, and her cheek was bruised. There was something on her head, I slipped it off, and her head fell forward onto my shoulder. She was moving, but only slightly. I picked her up, putting her arms around my shoulders, and an arm under her knees. I picked a spot as far away from Slade as possible. A few hours later her eyes fluttered open slowly. She was still in pain, and upset. She wrapped her arms around my neck, sobbing.

"I failed them Richie. I failed them." She whispered.

"You haven't. You're still alive, and able to fight. You can still do something about all this. And I know you'll succeed." I said.

She smiled slightly, and I wished that she would believe me. She fell asleep, her head resting on my shoulder. I didn't know how long it would take us to get where he wanted to go, her home world, but I knew that when we got there, our chances were going to be pretty limited. I hoped that Static and the Titans had gotten my message before I was knocked out. Maybe they were following us as we traveled, but I didn't want to add that into my equations since I wasn't sure if they were behind us or not.

We shuddered to a stop suddenly, throwing Reiko and I across the floor. Slade was cursing as he stalked towards us and grabbed Reiko. I tried to keep a hold of her, and she struggled, but it was to no avail. He was shouting at someone, I couldn't see very well, he was in the way, and I was trying to keep an eye on Reiko. Apparently he got what he wanted, since he let go of Reiko, and she sat down next to me again.

"They were asking him for a pass to the planet. No one is allowed without reason. He told them if they wished to have their princess back, they would have to allow him passage to the planet surface. They agreed after they verified I was really their princess." She whispered.

I didn't know what to say, so I just wrapped my arms around her. She laid her head on my shoulder, silent. I was going through all the possibilities of how we could save her people from Slade. But it was hard since I didn't know too much about them. I knew from her brief story that the royal family apparently all had the same powers as she did, and the others on the planet had other elemental power. That would be helpful, since they undoubtedly were able to control them in a way that would leave Virgil drooling. I knew that Reiko probably wasn't going to be up to much fighting really soon.

Slade put me back in the crate as soon as he had landed, and kept Reiko next to him as he exited. I knew that he had his finger on some trigger, and that was all that was stopping Reiko from going all out and beating the crap out of him. At least that was what I hoped was the reason she wasn't attempting to escape. I knew she would want to do her best to keep me safe, but I had told her that it was a super hero's fate to die at the hands of an enemy, and that it had been an honor to work as one. I liked living as much as the next guy, but I couldn't let her people fall under his rule just because I wanted to tell her how much I loved her. I hadn't told her that I loved her, because lets face it, I was only in high school, and I doubt I even knew what love was. There were so many chemical compounds that made a person compatible with another, and I was only making excuses for not telling her, but I was trying to make it easy on her.

Being shackled actually wasn't a problem for me, because I kept a small lock pick that operated on its own. Slade didn't seem to know who I really was, since he hadn't taken Backpack or any of my other apparently harmless gadgets. I put the lock pick to work while trying to figure out what exactly I could do after I had freed myself. I needed to make sure that Reiko was safe, and then fight Slade. Fighting him on my own was futile, I knew that, but it would at least give Reiko time to rally her people to fight him. She wouldn't be happy with me, but at least I would make sure that her people weren't under the rule of a sadistic bastard. Finally the cuffs opened, and I sat there, rubbing my wrists as I listened to what was happening around me. I was hearing a strange sound, and had no idea what it was, until I grabbed it out of Backpack's little storage compartment.

"Gear! Are you there?" Robin whispered. It was like a shock vox.

"Yeah. Where are you?" I asked. I had forgotten all about the communicator.

"We're going to be landing in about ten minutes. It took us a bit longer to get clearance than you guys. What is going on?" Robin asked.

"Well, we got clearance right away because Slade has the planet's high Princess. He intends to take over. He's probably going to kill us." I said.

"Where's Reiko?"

"She's the princess." I said.

There was silence on the other end, and I sighed. I began to explain to them what I knew, as quietly as possible. Then Robin began to explain to me what they were going to do when they landed, and they were going to attack Slade. All I had to do was get Reiko and any others that couldn't fight, out of the way of the attack. I explained to them her potential for fighting, but they didn't want her in the fight if at all possible, it wasn't a good idea to get an alien princess involved. If she were to get hurt, we'd be in some pretty big trouble. I sighed, and waited for the diversion they were going to create. Suddenly the crate was dropped, but it hadn't splintered open like it should have. I cursed, having bruised my elbow. Virgil was shouting something outside, and Slade seemed to be surrounded.

"Gear, we've got Slade's attention, get out of there, and give us a hand." Static said.

I didn't need to be told twice. I burst from the crate, in costume, and zoomed up to the brewing. Reiko was wrestling to get free of Slade's grip on her arm. The thing he had put on her head before was in his hand, and I was determined to make sure he didn't use it to hurt her again. I threw a zap cap at him, but it hit Reiko instead. I cursed, she looked like she was in pain, but then she turned the energy from the cap on Slade, earning a collective gasp from the gathered people. They hadn't seen this kind of energy from a princess in many years. Luckily, the sudden violent energy attack caused Slade to loosen his grip, and Reiko performed the most graceful combination of martial arts attacks that I had ever seen. Robin and a few of the others just stood there with their mouths open like some strange cartoon characters. Slade was able to block them pretty much, and moved as fast as lightning to hit her. She flipped out of the way and leapt into the air. I took my cue, and zoomed in, catching her around the waist.

"Richie, I am glad you are here." She said, wrapping her arms around my neck.

I lifted up my visor, kissing her softly. She pressed herself against my chest, and I was surprised to feel heat radiating from her. I wondered if it was from the sudden burst of energy. I made sure that she was far enough away from Slade that he wouldn't think about coming after her until he got through all of us, which I was sure would be a difficult task. She wrapped her arms around me tightly after I set her down. She kissed me then, making me want to stay there with her forever. She watched me fly away from the roof I had placed her on, and I felt horrible for leaving her there, when it was her people we were fighting for. But Robin was right; we had to make sure that their princess was safe. She had this look on her face that I couldn't get rid of. She looked so sad, and I could see all the things that had happened to her, all the lies that she had thought truth, the betrayal, in her eyes. I didn't want to do that to her. I wasn't going to let her die, and I wasn't going to let Slade do what he wanted with her.

The fight seemed to be a blur. The people had mostly disappeared when we began battling I wish I could have said that the fight was over in a blur, but it wasn't that easy even for a bunch of us superheroes only going up against one bad guy. One or two strangely dressed people joined the fray, they must have been warriors of some sort, the outfits they wore leaving no doubt in my mind, perfect for fighting. One used fire to fight; the other used a whip that seemed to be glowing with a strange poisonous looking light. I had the idea that was probably what it was. They had interesting weapons here, as soon as it seemed the whip would miss capturing Slade, the glow went out so if it hit someone on our side, it wouldn't hurt them. Not that this woman missed anything. She missed Slade every once in a while, but any time he dodged out of the way, she almost stopped the whip in mid crack and changed its direction. It was amazing.

Slade was holding his arm, and breathing heavily. Most of us were in similar shape. He glared at us, and with a press of a button, a sort of window opened up. I saw behind him a city. It looked much like the city that Robin and the Titans called home. He stepped through with a laugh that seemed to stay behind for a while. I stood there for a moment, staring at him in disbelief.

"Oh come on! You couldn't use that to get here you stupid bastard?" I shouted.

* * *

Hehe... I had to do it 


	10. Dust in the Wind

Here we go... entering the final stretch... alas.. I have to go study German for finals!

* * *

Reiko's POV 

I was tired of standing around doing nothing. Richie was out there fighting against someone that had more strength and power than even the Teen Titans could deal with. I was trying to think of some way to get down there. I wanted to be beside Richie and make sure that he was not going to get hurt. I had no idea what was wrong with me, most people would stay where they were, but in my heart I knew that I couldn't let Richie fight this out alone, I didn't want to have the last time I see him be when he is going off to fight. I couldn't create my bubble; I probably didn't have enough energy for that, after all that Slade had done to me, let alone having enough to keep me flying. I looked around, and spotted metal siding on the building I was standing on. Smiling I dashed over to them, trying to pry them off. I couldn't seem to get it off, which was surprising; they didn't look like they had been riveted on there.

"Why don't you try zapping it like your friend Static does?"

I jumped back, feeling the electricity coursing through my veins. He laughed as I fell into a fighting stance. Slade looked like he had the crap beat out of him, which made me laugh. We circled one another, and I began to hope that maybe I had a fighting chance.

"If I can't have this planet, they can't have you. Ought to make your dearest wallow in the pits of despair." Slade said.

"You've got to catch me first Slade. From the looks of it, you'll be having a hard time of it right now." I said.

"Don't be so sure princess." He laughed.

I smiled and spun as he kicked, bringing my electricity up to bear on him. He jumped back, almost not fast enough. His movements were slower, which didn't say much for me. I was still a little behind from when he had captured me before. At least we were more evenly matched than before. I spent more time blocking and dodging than throwing a punch or kick in at him. We were all over that roof, in a deadly dance of fists.

I brought my arm across my chest, blocking another kick, but this time using my electricity much like Static did and a panel came flying towards us. Slade ducked as I back flipped to avoid it. When I landed on my feet again, Slade was a mere breath away from me. Before I could move, I felt a pressure on my chest, and a sharp pain. I looked down, grabbing the handle of the knife. I looked up at him, confused at the sudden turn of events. I could hardly breath, he jerked the knife, I screamed, and suddenly the wind was whipping my hair about my face.

"I'll tell your boyfriend you love him, right after I shove a knife in his back."

"Reiko!" I heard.

I didn't know what was happening, I closed my eyes, feeling my breath disappear into the wind.

* * *

Richie's POV

I had thought something was a little odd a moment after Slade had disappeared. I looked around at the people, and then towards where I had left Reiko. It hit me like ten thousand pounds of cement. He hadn't given up quiet as easily as we thought he had. I knew that if he was going to give up on the planet, he'd make life as miserable as he could for everyone else. He would take the planet's princess away from her people just moments after bringing her back. He would rip a hole in my heart that could never be fixed. I heard everyone shouting at me as I took off.

I watched Reiko and Slade fight one another on the roof of the building. It could only end one way. I saw a sheet of metal go flying, and Reiko flip backwards to avoid being decapitated. Slade moved faster than lightning, and I sucked a breath in as she shuddered from the impact. I heard her scream as he shoved the knife deeper into her chest. He was gone in another flash.

"Reiko!"

I couldn't hear myself scream her name as she plummeted from the roof. I caught her, in the nick of time I suppose. Her eyes seemed empty, and blood stained her shirt, and gurgled from her mouth as she gasped for her final breaths. I skidded to a stop in front of the others, her people gasping in terror and sorrow.

"Reiko! Reiko please, don't leave! Don't leave me, please don't die! Reiko! Reiko!" I cried, my hands on her face, wiping the blood away.

I felt arms pulling me away, as her people crowded around us. I was screaming at them to leave me alone. I couldn't handle this. It was the second time I had allowed her to get hurt, and this time, I had gotten her killed. They let me go after a moment, and I cradled Reiko's head in my hands as they brought someone forward. Reiko looked at me, her eyes blank, smiling. She was trying to say something, but I couldn't hear her. I watched them as they pulled the knife from her chest, causing her to spasm in pain, a gurgling sound coming from her mouth now. He must have punctured a lung when he stabbed her. Someone pulled something out of a box, and I watched as they moved it towards her. It was penlike, and had a blue button or light at the top. It made a strange noise as it worked.

"She is not yet beyond our aid." A woman said.

"She's not breathing that well. She's dying!" I shouted.

"But she is not dead."

"She's got a point Gear. Now let them do what they do, so Reiko doesn't die." Static said.

"We have to get her to the citadel. It will take time." The man said.

"I can fly. Point it out to me, and I'll take her there." I said.

The woman looked at the man, he nodded. "I will join you."

I picked up Reiko, and the man followed me as I blasted off from the ground, he brought up a wind around his feet, and levitated. I flew in the direction they had indicated, and the man could hardly keep up. I had Backpack on her chest, keeping an eye on her vitals, which were dropping rapidly. The only thing that was keeping her alive was probably her fast healing factor, and even that wouldn't keep her alive for long, since the knife had pierced a lung and injured her heart. He also did what he could to make sure that her heart kept beating. The man caught up to me and led me into the building, and then took her from me. I didn't want to let go, but he didn't stop me from following. He laid her gently on the table as I watched in amazement.

They brought out the pen tool again, and began to work. The bleeding slowed, and then stopped as they pointed it at the wound. From what it looked like, they had cauterized the wound. They pulled out another small tool, and another laser, green this time, was aimed into the wound. I didn't know what it was doing until ten minutes later, the skin closed up as if there hadn't been an injury there at all. I looked at Reiko, urging her to breath. The tool seemed to have regenerated everything, lost blood, the harm done to her internal organs. They watched her for a moment, and brought out what I hoped would bring her back. They placed it over her heart, and stepped back. There was a flash of light, but nothing. It did that a few times before Reiko started to breath on her own again. They brought out the regeneration pen, and the scanner, checking her brain I'd suppose. I began to file away what I had seen so that I could hopefully come up with something like it for our battles on earth.

"Welcome back princess." The man said.

Reiko opened her eyes and looked at me; I smiled, knowing that this was the end for us. She looked so sad, but I didn't want her to. She sat up slowly, touching the hole in her shirt. She got off the table and walked over to me. She touched my cheek, and I put my finger to her lips.

"Welcome back, princess." I said softly. She hugged me tightly.


	11. Remember me this way

Here is the last chapter. There will be an epilouge. The song I use here is by Jordan Hill "Remember Me This Way" from the Casper sound track. I tried to get the fic to match the song as well as I could, but I think that it's more the feeling of the song and the story that goes together. I don't own Static, nor do I own the song.

* * *

_  
Every now and then  
We find a special friend  
Who never lets us down_

I watched Richie and the others as they got fixed up by my people. We were going to have a bit of a relax session. They needed to rest after the ride through space, and after the fight. I was still exhausted from the healing they had performed, and really hungry. It was all side effects, but that was alright, it was better than the alternative. I was now dressed in a royal gown, in soft shades of rose and green. It was really pretty, and the crown they put on my head frightened me at first, because it resembled the headbands that I had worn most of my time on earth. Richie had told me I looked stunning, after he had picked his jaw up off the floor anyway.  
_  
Who understands it all  
Reaches out each time you fall  
You're the best friend that I've found_

I hadn't told any of them what my choice was. I had to stay with my people, I was next in line, and they needed a lot of help to clean things up that had gotten out of hand. They were still trying to take care of things that had gone bad after the war that had spurred my being taken from the planet in the first place. I sat on a couch, watching the Teen Titans talk, while Virgil and Richie talked. Soon enough Richie came over to me, and sat down next to me. He put his head in my lap, and I smiled down at him as he stared up at me.

"It's almost time to go." He said. I nodded.  
_  
I know you can't stay  
A part of you will never ever go away  
Your heart will stay_

"It's going to be a long trip. They're packing the ship now with some things for the trip. It'll be ready in a few minutes no doubt. They've got amazing control, and work so quickly." I said.

"Yeah, I was surprised. They've got amazing technology here." Richie said dreamily.  
_  
I'll make a wish for you  
And hope it will come true_

"You should stay then, get to know it. I'm sure you could make some contributions to it." I said.

"I can't. I've got a duty to Dakota. I've got my parents and everything." He said.

That life would just be kind  
To such a gentle mind

"I know." I said with a grin, hiding my sadness.

"Princess, the ship is ready."

If you lose your way  
Think back on yesterday  
Remember me this way  
Remember me this way

"Thank you. It's about time then, isn't it?" I said, standing.

"Yes it is." He replied.

We walked down to the ship; I was surrounded by all my friends. I felt like my heart was being torn in half. It was my duty, or my heart that I had to decide for. I hated this decision. I wondered if maybe in the future such a choice wouldn't have to be made, and things would work out to benefit everyone. We reached the ship, the Titans boarding and getting things ready to take off. I stopped with my guards, and Richie walked on a couple more feet before he realized I had stopped. He turned and ran back to me.  
_  
I don't need eyes to see  
The love you bring to me  
No matter where I go_

"It's alright. This time, Slade isn't here to hurt you." He said.

"That's not it Richie." I said softly, looking into his eyes.  
_  
And I know that you'll be there  
Forever more a part of me, you're everywhere  
I'll always care_

"You're staying, aren't you?" He asked.

"It's my duty." I whispered.

_I'll make a wish for you  
And hope it will come true  
That life would just be kind  
To such a gentle mind  
_

"I know, I know. But what about everything you've left on earth?"

"I have no place on earth anymore Richie. That man was never my father. By now my home is empty of all evidence I was there, and all my records have been purged. I have nothing left there." I said.

"You have me." He said. "You always will."

If you lose your way  
Think back on yesterday

"Are you sure? Your human Richie, you have better things to do." I said.

Remember me this way  
Remember me this way

"I am sure. I'll never forget you, and I'll never stop loving you." He said.

"Me too." I said.

I took off my pendant, and put it in his hand, the small stone glowing softly as I wrapped his hand around it. I kissed him softly, and then backed away. He stared at it, and then looked up at me.  
_  
And I'll be right behind your shoulder watching you  
I'll be standing by your side and all you do  
_

You'll always have a piece of my heart." I said. "As long as you believe, I'll always be there, right by your side."  
_  
And I won't ever leave  
As long as you believe  
You just believe_"

_I'll make a wish for you  
And hope it will come true  
That life would just be kind  
To such a gentle mind_

He stood there, dumbfounded. He ran up to me, holding me tightly. Tears rolled down my cheeks, as I held in a sob.

"I won't let it go."

If you lose your way  
Think back on yesterday

"Goodbye Richie. I love you." I said.

"I'll always remember you." He said.

_Remember me this way_

He was dragged away by Virgil, and rain started to fall around us. I sighed as I felt I couldn't hold it in any longer. The door shut, and I began to cry in earnest. My father, my real father, came up to me, his hand on my shoulder. My mother held me tightly as I cried. Soon they were beyond our system, and well on their way to earth.

"I love you Richie." I whispered.

_  
Remember me this way_

_

* * *

_

Ok, I admit that wasn't the greatest in the world, but it was my first attempt. It was supposed to be all sappy and stuff. I hope you enjoyed it, because it was a bit of a bastard putting the durned thing together. Next chapter will also have a song. 

And the only reason I'm doing this is because as I was writing this part of the chapter... this song started playing on my AMVs... and as I wrote the epilouge... well... yeah. sigh it sounded so much better in my head. _  
_


	12. Epilouge: Right here waiting for you

Alas, the last bit of this story... but it lends food for thought. I will be working on a sequel to my Trials for a Shaman story, and it will kinda be a sequel to this one too. The song I used is "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx

* * *

_"I love you Richie"_

I heard her voice again. It was haunting, and wrenched my heart. I told her I'd never forget her, and I hadn't yet. I had tried so many times in the beginning to forget her, to bury my love for her. It was hard though. Everyone seemed to have forgotten she existed, but I had proof that she had been there once, and I never was without it. I felt her pain through it as time passed, she felt so hurt and torn, having to choose her people over me. I didn't want her to feel like she had abandoned me. But I felt like I had abandoned her. I sighed, looking at the pendant in my hand.

We had been apart for about four years, and although I tried to forget how I felt about her, I couldn't, no matter who I tried to date or fall in love with. Now that I had graduated, and been accepted to college, I felt the distance even more. And through that distance I could feel her heart. I wondered if she had forgotten me.

I watched an old friend of hers sitting on the beach, it was about sunset. She was making baby noises at her son, Kahoku. I thought he was very cute, as most babies were. She seemed to be smiling a lot more. Hot Streak had gotten what he deserved, and with the birth of her son, Kailie seemed much happier. Virgil had been a big help to her ever since we appeared in Kauai. I was still trying to figure out how we had managed to come with Kailie when she had been called back. I watched her and her son as the sun began to set. It was a beautiful place. This was a privately owned beach, owned by her family for many generations. The village wasn't too far away, and they were setting up for a final night of festivities. I never knew that there was so much good food in the world.

"Hey, Kailie. I was just watching you think. Are you alright?" Virgil asked.

"I'm fine. Just wondering what's in store for me." She said.

"You'll always have us. No matter what, we will stand by you." I replied. _She had said something similar when she handed me the pendant... that she would always be right by my side if I beleived._

"Yeah. I hoped you would. We start college soon. I don't think that I can manage with Kahoku. But I can't bear to leave him here. I want to bring him with me. How am I going to afford college and raising him?" She asked.

"We've got a few connections. My pops can help, though it would be one hell of a day trying to explain it to him how you got a baby so fast. But our best bet is Bruce Wayne. He'll help you out. Especially if you're on our side." Virgil said.

"Yeah. I think he'd understand a lot. You might even manage a free baby sitter. A lot of the Justice League doesn't have time for creating a family. They would probably enjoy helping you out if they don't have something to do. Then there are the titans. And us. We can always help you out." I said.

"Don't rule out Alfred. That man is great. He may be old, but I get the feeling he's as sharp as ever. You'll be able to manage." Virgil said.

"I'm glad." She said, tears in her eyes.

"Hey, can I hold him?" I asked, seeing that Virgil really wanted to spend some time alone with Kailie.

I was glad that he had found someone to really care about. Daisy and Frieda were ok girls and all, but they were more like sisters to us than anything. Kailie looked at me for a moment, then smiled, handing me Kahoku gently. I took him and smiled at him, he was a good baby, he hardly ever cried, and seemed to contemplate and think in a much more advanced way than babies ever did. I pulled out a toy for him that I had made, and he started laughing, and I laughed with him, it was funny. I watched Virgil and Kailie walk off, hand in hand. I sighed, remembering her hands, her soft skin. Kahoku cooed, catching my attention again, and I smiled.  
_  
Oceans apart day after day _

"I've never forgotten you Richie. Through the oceans of time and space, you're always in my heart."  
_  
And I slowly go insane _

I started, keeping Kahoku tightly in my arms. The pendant was glowing now. I thought I was going nuts. How could it be glowing? What kind of a powersource could it have that would make it light up? Was it a chemical reaction, or just something the baby was doing?  
_  
I hear your voice on the line _

The baby giggled in my arms as the pendant swung slowly around his hands. I began to settle back and forget that I thought I was hearing her voice again. I remembered using the phone to talk to her, the shock vox. The bell like laughter as I said something that seemed to catch her off guard as hilarious. And always afterwards she would kiss my forehead and tell me to stop thinking so much with my head, and more with my heart.  
_  
But it doesn't stop the pain_

I didn't want the hope to flare up again, because it hurt too much to think that she was still in love with me after all this time. I knew how things went with royal families. As soon as one is old enough to get married off, they make an arranged marriage and that would be the end of it. But somewhere deep down, I knew that she probably had never loved me, that I was just some passing craze with her. But my heart told me I was fooling myself, and that she would always love me, and that was what hurt the most, knowing I loved her, and she loved me, and we would never see each other again.  
_  
If I see you next to never  
How can we say forever _

In my mind we had promised to be with each other forever, and now we were never going to see each other again. It was painful, but I knew that she had no choice, her people needed her there. At least until things had stabilized on that planet. Even then I was sure that she would have found someone else to give her heart to.  
_  
Wherever you go  
Whatever you do  
I will be right here waiting for you  
Whatever it takes  
Or how my heart breaks_

I knew I would be waiting for her for a long time. Whatever she did and where she decided to go was up to her, but I would wait until forever for her, no matter how much my heart broke. I felt betrayed that I couldn't love someone else, that my heart wouldn't allow me to let go of her face, her voice, or the way she smelled or fit into my arms. It was as if we were pieces to a puzzle, and she was the piece that would be lost forever. But none the less, we fit so well together. I would find her, no matter what it took, and tell her that I still loved her. Tell her that I wanted my heart back, even if it was broken, if she didn't love me anymore.

_I will be right here waiting for you_

_I took for granted, all the times  
That I thought would last somehow_

Kahoku looked at me, and I smiled again, thinking of the times when we just sat in the gas station talking to one another about what we were planning to do in our future, my future as a superhero, and her future with me. We had thought nothing of her strange past, and that we would have all the time in the world together. I had thought that we would always be together.  
_  
I hear the laughter, I taste the tears_

I remembered her silver bell like laughter that first time we met in the junkyard, when I had kissed her. I remembered the tears she shed when she was laying on the infirmary bed at Titan Tower. Tears she had shed in fear of what would have happened, that she might have died, shed my tears. She cried for me when I couldn't anymore, when I thought that I had killed her, it was my fault, my ignorance that had gotten her hurt, and she cried for me, and told me it wasn't my fault. I tasted the tears of that night, when I thought for sure she would die without me being able to tell her I loved her.

_But I can't get near you now _

I remembered how I felt that I shouldn't be allowed near her, that I had almost gotten her killed with my stupidity. And we were at least a solar system apart; I couldn't begin to get close to her. I wanted so bad to wrap her in my arms and never let her go, but it was as if we were two magnets that were pushing one another away. We wouldn't be able to touch one another now.

_Oh, can't you see it baby  
You've got me goin' crazy_  
_  
_I felt fresh tears in my eyes as I became more and more frustrated with what had happened to the two of us.

_Wherever you go  
Whatever you do  
I will be right here waiting for you  
Whatever it takes  
Or how my heart breaks  
I will be right here waiting for you_

I knew that whatever happened, I would do what I could to make sure she was always smiling. Even if it meant that I let her find another person. I was willing to let my heart ache forever if it would allow her a lifetime of happiness. I would wait for her, yes. But I would only wait for word of her happiness, of her life. If she wanted nothing more to do with me, I would only wait for the word.

_I wonder how we can survive  
This romance  
But in the end if I'm with you  
I'll take the chance _

I wasn't sure how our love could survive, could have survived, the four years and such a distance as the one we faced. But I was sure that given the chance, we would be together again. Through the pendant I felt that our love had grown stronger, but I wanted to fool myself, to make myself think that perhaps it was all my imagination because I wanted it to be that way.

_Oh, can't you see it baby  
You've got me goin' crazy _

Kahoku giggled as the pendant glowed again, and I lifted it up to eye level. I smiled slightly at the images I saw within it. My memories, her memories, placed within this crystal, the evidence of our love for one another. Slade had said that her people chose their partners early, at her age.  
_  
Wherever you go  
Whatever you do  
I will be right here waiting for you  
Whatever it takes  
Or how my heart breaks  
I will be right here waiting for you _

I wondered if her choice in me had altered my mind somehow, making it so that I loved no one else. I held it close to my heart and looked up at the stars as they came out.

"I'll be right here, waiting for you." I whispered. "I'll be waiting for you."

_waiting for you . . . _

_

* * *

_

Ta daaaaa!

I hope ya'll like this little bit... Kinda makes you misty eyed doesn't it?

It doesn't? Damn... well... It's not the end of my trial and error with song fics, I'll probably post another somewhere along the lines. Look for my next Static fic. I don't know when it'll be around, let alone if it'll be in English. Lets just say if I get an acceptance letter... I might be forced to write in German.

The title of my next fic may be something like "Lady of the Stars" Since Reiko will be making a return.


End file.
